Not Just A Game
by Clynch2222
Summary: Percy is the star player of the men's basketball team at Goode Academy, A team who's hopes to end its long championship drought rests on Percy's broad shoulders. Annabeth is the captain of the woman's team who receives enormous pressure to preform on and off the court. Can she maintain her perfect image while dealing with new challenges? Highschool AU no gods.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N So I've seen a fair amount of stories where Percy/Annabeth are high school athletes but one thing that bothers me is almost all of them have Percy being this cocky, full of himself jock and that's just not the him to me. The Percy in this story will hopefully be a little more accurate.**

 **The story will switch POV between Percy and Annabeth and pairing is of course Percabeth and probably other canon pairings. I'm a first-time writer but a long-time reader of the PJO fandom so I hope this story will turn out ok. I don't own PJO or the characters or the cover art. And I make no money off this story. This story was inspired by "swish" by tayhill767 if you like this or just enjoy the concept you should definitely check that one out ( _Edit swish and the account tayhill767 have been taken off the site_ ). **

**Enjoy**

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Goode Academy is a prestigious Prep school in Long Island New York. Known for its strict admissions, and rigorous curriculum it also boasts an impressive athletic department. The school skewers the state for the best student athletes to improve its reputation as the best prep school in all of New York.

Percy Jackson is the star player on the men's basketball team at Goode the team looks to end the schools12 year state championship drought. The hope of the entire school nowrests on Percy's broad shoulders. Can he lift the team to new heights while dealing with hisstruggles in the classroom?

Annabeth Chase is the captain on the woman's team which receives much less school attention than their male counterparts. However, with high expectations from her home life to maintain a level of excellence both on the court and in the classroom. Can she continue with her 'perfect' image while her team fights for the respect they deserve?

 **Annabeth** POV

As Annabeth chase arrived noticeably early to school one day, hoping to clear her head before classes started. She thought back to last night when for the umptieth time her mother had come into her room for a talk and stressed the importance of this coming school year and challenged her daughter to achieve perfection this term while also working part time and being the captain of the basketball team. "Absolutely nothing should distract you" she said "you have to really focus we can't afford any slip ups Colombia is a top university and to get inyou need to be perfect" hoping her daughter would follow in her footsteps by attending her alma-mater. However no matter her achievements Annabeth always felt it was never enough to please her loving but over baring mother and seriously wondered if attending Colombia would satisfy her or if she would only increase her expectations. For crying out loud she was a star student in all honors or AP courses, had never gotten in trouble and was the captain of the Women's Basketball team that had championship aspersions.

So here she was an hour and a half before the first bell making her way to the gym to do her favorite thing in the world, play basketball. It was one of the only ways she could relax after one of her mother's infamous talks. Just her, the ball and the hoop. What could be simpler. From a young age, she always loved basketball. The feeling of control when she had the ball in her hands was something she grew to crave as she grew and the chaos of the outside world grew with her she could always feel at ease. Some players panicked when they got the ball, afraid of making a mistake and the embarrassment that would follow, not her she thrived with it. The game slowed down and she felt she had total control. All the noises of the outside world would fall away and she would feel at peace.

That kind of feeling is what she sought now but as she made her way to the door she was shocked to find it was already occupied. 'Who in the world could be here already?' She thought. As she opens the doors she saw that there was already a rack of basketballs out and someone shooting on the far side of the gym. It was non-other than the star of the men's team, Percy Jackson with headphones in, meticulously practicing his handling.

Now Annabeth of course knew him, every student is in Goode knew who he was and he is cousins with her friend Thalia but they couldn't be considered more than acquaintances, havingnever sharedmore than a couple of words with each other. Annabeth always thought there was a mutual respect between them with the shared experience being the best player on their team and knowing the pressure that holds. She always thought he was a nice guy and never heard anything negative about him, he didn't have a big ego like most of the other jocks nor was he a player with the ladies despite being quite desirable according the gossip in the female locker room. She had to admit looking at him now he was objectively attractive he was tall, lean but muscular, had wind swept black hair and sea green eyes. But it's not like it mattered, she had neither the time nor interest in a relationship, not now.

She walked to half court to retrieve a ball from the rack there. Hoping to quickly grab one and start shooting without needlessly disturbing Percy. However, as she just got there the heavy door to the gym slammed back creating a loud echo in the nearly empty gym. Percy immediately jolted and looked behind him and spotted Annabeth. Percy then stopped what he was doing turned to her a took out his head phones.

"Sorry, I didn't think anyone else would be here this early." Annabeth replied hoping to smooth over any potential awkwardness. Which Percy waives off immediately.

"Yeah, no worries, you good splitting up the gym? You get that side I'll stay on this one" pointing to the near and far side respectively. "so, we don't get in each other's way?" He asks politely. She nods, grabs a ball then head back to her hoop.

She can't help but wonder if Percy gets to school early routinely or if it was just a coincidence they both went on the same day. However, once she started getting shots up. Her mind became soothingly clear. It was only her, the ball and the hoop. No school, no over barring mother, and definitely no Percy Jackson.

An hour passed with each player barley noticing. They were both in the zone. Now covered in sweat Percy was working on his three-point shot. And Annabeth was calmly taking free throws. Then the door opened and in came three more members of the men's team. They were Jason Grace, Thalia's brother and Percy's cousin, Charles Beckendorf, and almost hidden behind the two large men was Nico di Angelo who just also happened to be cousins with Percy and the Graces as well. Jason was tall, built and had short Blonde hair, the thing he shared with his sister was the same sharp blue eyes. Beckendorf, as he liked to be called was large, African American and has short black hair, if Jason and Percy were tall Beckendorf was massive, the center of the basketball team stood 6'8 inches tall and wasn't a bean stock either. Despite his size, he was genuinely one of the nicest guys she's ever met. Nico was the runt of the group standing only 5'8 he was the point guard and had long messy black hair that often covered his dark brown eyes, and an olive completion.

Having known Jason for years she stopped her work out and greeted them. "Hey Jason, guys what are you guys doing here?" She asked.

All three greeted her but only Jason stopped to talk. "Well I could ask you the same question. We didn't think anyone else is crazy enough to work out before school. We're here to make sure Percy wraps up his warm up. If we didn't that guy would probably miss his first three classes before he noticed." Jason said laughing at the subtle dig at his friend. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised your here. I mean you two are the best players in the school. It'd only make sense you'd have similar work out habits."

Annabeth couldn't help but swell with pride after he called her one of the two best players in the school. Just because she thought it was true doesn't mean it's not nice to hear it from someone else, especially someone like Jason who is no slouch on the court himself. "heh thanks I'm just here to blow off some steam though I gotta say I was pretty shocked when I got here at 6:30 and Percy was already in here working up a sweat. That guy must be a machine" she told him.

Jason just smiled and shook his head. "Yeah there not much he'd rather be doing than being on a court." He said shrugging. They said their goodbyes and Annabeth finished up while Jason joined the other guys with Percy.

She made her way to her locker feeling infinitely better as Thalia walked up to her.

"Hey where's piper doesn't she normally give you a ride?" She asked.

"I don't know, I didn't get a ride from her today. I came early to shoot around in the gym." Annabeth replied nonchalantly. "Your cousin was actually there."

"Oh, please don't tell me you're gonna be like that idiot?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah I swear that kelp head only eats sleeps and plays basketball! Every morning he's at the Gymat 6 am" She said exasperatedly. Annabeth nods she knows it takes a lot of hard work to be as good as Percy is but she never realized the amount of work he  
puts in. She idly wonders what drives him. Everyone is different, some want money or fame, some want to be recognized as the best, others like Annabeth strive for the unattainable goal of perfection. What was Percy Jacksons drive?

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 **So that was the first chapter, let me know what you think. Like I said this is my first story so any reviews would be appreciated**.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thank you to all you read my first Chapter, the support was better then I could've imagined. Sorry it took so long but I wanted to make it perfect. Disclaimer its far from perfect but I hope you like it. This is Percy POV**

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For Percy, the day was like any other. Wake up at 5:30, get dressed, eat, head to the gym. Thishas been his routine for as long as he had been at Goode. Of course, he had a little extra motivation these days, first game of his junior season was only 2 weeks away. After transferring to Goode for his sophomore year, he immediately becoming the team's leading scorer. Plus, with three starters from last year's team, that lost in the state tournament graduating, he has even more responsibility on the team. Not that he minded though, hell, he's happy to help the team in any way he can. If that means he must carry a little extra weight then so be it. No what he was really worried about was what he was going to do after he left high school. Even though he was only a junior his life after Goode has clearly been weighing on his mind. One of the main reasons he was at Goode to begin with was because his mom had suggested that it would be good to give his game more exposure in order to secure a basketball scholarship. He had already received interest from some of the smaller schools in New York state like Iona and the University of Buffalo but the school he was really interested in St. Johns had contacted him over the summer and told him they were going to be watching him this season and if he performed well they would talk about getting him on campus for a visit and a potential scholarship. That would mean everything to him, see he never had much growing up it was just him and his Mom in their small apartment in Manhattan so the opportunity to go to school for free and stay close to home AND play for his favorite college team would simply be too perfect.

These were the thoughts that lingered in his head Wednesday morning as he groggily made his way out of his dorm room and to the gym. Fortunately, his roommate and best friend Grover Underwood was a heavy sleeper. Looking back, it was a bit of a surprise Annabeth Chase had decided to join him in the gym before school. He's always liked her. She was the girls' team's best player, he saw her play a couple of times last year and he was thoroughly impressed. She displayed a cool head under pressure, a good shot and excellent court vision. Plus, it didn't hurt that she was one of the few girls that didn't shamelessly flirt with him every chance they got and he'd be lying if he said she wasn't attractive, with her curly blond hair pulled back into a messy ponytail or her stormy grey eyes that always caught his attention, or how cute she looked when she took free throws with her face all scrunched up and her tongue sticking out … RINNNGGGGGG! Percy suddenly jolted out of his thoughts by the bell was suddenly embarrassed, hoping that he hadn't been caught with such a goofy expression on his face as the one he wore when he was thinking about Annabeth. 'Annabeth, hmmmm I'm sure it doesn't mean anything.' He thought shaking his head the clear his thoughts, obviously not in denial at all.

Now he was in class sitting through another boring lecture on the French revolution waiting for it to end. He didn't hate school per say, he understood it's importance, he just wasn't any good at it. The only reason he could even be at this school was because he was good at basketball and on an athletic scholarship. He knew he was at a super prep school where all the kids were either really smart, really rich or really good at sports. He was decidedly in the last category so if he just got by enough  
to stay on the team everyone would be happy. Finally, lunch rolled around and Percy gathered his things to head to his table. Already at his table were his fellow members of the basketball team Jason, Nico and Beckendorf as well as his roommate Grover.

"Hey Percy, how was the gym?" Grover asks.

"Yo guys, it was fine I guess, my handles have felt really sloppy lately so I definitely gotta keep working to tighten them up before the season starts." He answers. Nico rolls his eyes at his cousins in depth response.

"Anything interesting that isn't basketball related happen today Pierce?" Nico asks with a smirk which gets a round of chuckles.

"uhhhh I don't think so no" Percy responds after a look of concentration, clearly not getting the joke. Causing the rest of the table to face palm.

"Well what about Annabeth?" Jason asks hoping to gauge Percy's interest in something other than basketball, certainly caught Grover's attention.

"Who Annabeth Chase?" Grover asks excitedly. "Like the smartest girl in the whole school? The captain of the girls' basketball team that Annabeth?"

"The very one." Jason responds smoothly.

"Well what about her Percy?" Grover demanded. Percy to his credit was currently three bites into his turkey sandwich and was only partially paying attention to the conversation. When he realized they were waiting for an answer?

"Uhhhh" was Percy's intelligent response through a mouth full of food. The rest of the table face faulted. After swallowing the rest of the food in his mouth. "Ohh Annabeth?" He pauses to receive confirmation. Once he gets it he continues. "Yeah she came to the gym early today too. Seems that she is dedicated to get better and be ready for the season unlike you bums." Percy says again turning a normal conversation into ragging his teammates for not keeping up with his ridiculous practice habits. Which caused a series of groans from his teammates.

"Come on Percy, you know we work out every day after class and play on the weekends. Just cause we're not robots like you doesn't mean we aren't ready for the season." Jason said defending his work ethic and that of his teammates. "And you could use a break from basketball for a bit. You know do normal teen stuff, go to parties, date girls?" Percy responded with a look of pure bewilderment.

"What are you talking about I can't let up now the season starts in 2 weeks. If anything, I need to ratchet it up."

"Dude if you don't stop a relax every once in a while, you're gonna burn up?" Jason argued.

"Yeah Percy you ain't gotta worry, we're ready for sure, no one can stop me!" Beck said boastfully while flexing his massive bicep.

"I think you mean no one can stop us big guy?" Jason added. To which Beckendorf just shrugged while grinning.

Nico ever the quiet one took this opportunity to point out "hey beck I think I see someone who could stop you." At that moment, the group saw the one person on the earth that could without a doubt stop Charles Beckendorf.

"Ohhhh Charlieeeeee!" There was Silena Beauregard head cheerleader, most popular girl in school and just so happened to be Charles Beckendorf's girlfriend and the one person in the world that can get away with calling him Charlie. The guys stifled chuckles as Silena stopped next to Charles and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Hey guys! What are you talking about?" She asks politely.

Beckendorf quickly sends a look to the members of the table to drop it or else and the message was received to say the least. "Oh, nothing honey, just basketball stuff." He smoothly replies. She pouts hoping it was something more interesting.

"Actually, we were talking about Percy's nonexistent social life. You wouldn't know anyone who wants to date him do you." Grover said inserting himself into the conversation much to his best friend's disdain. Silena's eyes lit up like she had just been told Christmas has come early. Percy seeing where this is going tried to put a stop to it quickly. Slapping a hand over Grover's mouth.

"He's just kidding Silena please don't say that to anyone please." Percy begged.

"Hmmp, you boys are no fun." She said dejectedly

"Still Perc, the point stands you need to get out more." Jason added pointing his fork at his friend.

"Oh oh oh I know, you should come to my party this weekend. Everyone is gonna be there. You gotta go." Silena said again very excited, having Percy go to your party would be a huge social statement.

"I think that's a wonderful idea. Right guys." Jason said. Receiving an excited nod from Grover, a thumbs-up from Beck who would undoubtedly have to go regardless and an indifferent shrug from Nico who didn't really care as long as he wasn't roped into it. "Then it's decided we're all going to the party." Emphasizing all while glaring at Percy and Nico to make sure there was no mistake.

"I don't have a choice do I?" Percy asked dejectedly. To which 'No' was the resounding response. "Fine but Nico has to come too" he concedes much to his cousin's chagrin, a small part of his brain idly wondering if Annabeth would be at that party.

 **So a couple of things one, i appreciate every review i got, they do help me get better(and i need to get better) so please feel free to leave one. This story may even be more A/U then you realize because it makes the reader imagine a world where St. Johns has a good basketball team and is relevant. The reason i choose St Johns is cause i obviously wanted him to stay in New York and with Annabeth shooting (lol shooting) for Colombia it made sense, at least in my head. Sorry for the short length i had about 500 or so more words written but i was never happy with the transitions and i knew the longer i waited to post something the less likely I am to work on it. So for the record the word counts for each chapter are probably gonna say around 1500-2000 until further notice. As for update speed i'm sorry to say that im fairly slow writer but i made a commitment with the story and will try my best to get a new chapter out every week. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

Sometime between when Thalia talked to her before school and now as she is walking home Annabeth decided that she would again go to school early to shoot around. She really enjoyed it and it helped her calm down immensely. She quickly wondered if Percy  
Jackson would be there again. Thalia did say that he's there every morning but she was probably just exaggerating, he couldn't be that dedicated, could he? The thought of seeing him again made her quicken her step just a bit subconsciously.

The next morning, she got her answer, at 6:15 am when she walked through the hall on her way to the gym and open the extremely heavy door she was again treated to the sight of Percy Jackson working out. This time however he abandoned the ball and hoop  
and was running the stairs of the bleachers. He had a thin layer of sweat so he couldn't have just started. She stood there for a second, mesmerized at the work ethic of Percy Jackson. This was no quick warm up before school or a light shoot-around  
this was a full-on workout.

She realized she had been staring at him for a few seconds unfortunately before she could look away he caught her eye and noticed her. They keep each other's gaze for another second causing Percy to miss a step and almost trip going up the bleachers,  
thankfully he caught himself.

 **Quick Pov change**

'Oh, shit I just tripped in front of Annabeth' Percy thought 'hurry and play it off' he quickly settled himself and waved in hopes to avoid any further embarrassment. Percy turned to continue his routine to try and forget about the embarrassing moment.  
A deep blush covering both faces albeit for different reasons. 'What the hell, I can't believe I did that, she'll think I'm such a klutz, wait why do I care what she thinks she's just some girl I barley know.' His internal debate stopped when he thought  
of the moment just before he tripped when he locked eyes with Annabeth her stormy grey met his sea green and the world seemed to stop its almost as if he… 'OK! that's enough of that' Percy deciding it was best to nip that train of thought in the bud  
before it went somewhere he didn't want it to. So, he did the only sensible thing to do in this situation, he turned the volume to his music all the way up and doubled his efforts in his work out hoping that it and the Chance the Rapper album currently  
blaring though his earbuds would distract him.

 **Back to Annabeth**

'Oh, gods Annabeth what are you trying to do kill the guy, what was I thinking just staring at him like that? He probably thinks I'm so creepy' she thought After the initial shock wore off, she tried to rationally combat the problem at hand, which was,  
that Percy Jackson's stupid face, and his stupid gorgeous eyes and his stupid perfect hair was making her crazy. While the raging hormones in her teenage body were obviously the culprit, and not Percy's stupid, stupid sea green eyes that reminded  
her of the ocean, did she mention they were stupid? Anyway, just because she knew it was her hormonal teenage body causing her current predicament doesn't make it any easier to fix.

After the embarrassing moment, and the number of embarrassing thoughts that followed, the rest of Annabeth's morning went relatively smooth. However, for the rest of the morning out she could've sworn that Percy kept sneaking glances at her when he thought  
she wasn't looking, the thought of that made her feel equal parts warm and fuzzy inside and equal parts like she wanted to pull her hair out. Eventually though she did find the nirvana she was seeking however fleeting it may be. Despite that she had  
been able to clear her mind for an hour or so that morning it only delayed the inevitable as when she was sitting in her first class waiting for the bell thoughts of college, her mother, the team and Percy freaking Jackson. This was when her friend  
Piper Mclean mercifully pulled her from her musings.

"Hey Annie" Piper said in her usual cheerful way. Another member of the girls' basketball team along with Annabeth and Thalia, Piper was a tall girl with long braided brown hair, and tanned skin due to her Native American heritage. To call Piper pretty  
wouldn't do her justice, Piper had a natural beauty to her that seemed effortless. So much so that a lot of girls including Annabeth were a bit jealous at first but Piper is so sweet and down to earth that it's nearly impossible not to like her. "What's  
wrong?' she asks with so much genuine concern showing on her face that all Annabeth could do is sigh.

"Jeez is it that obvious?" Annabeth asks while blowing a strand of hair out of her face, the response a nod and a warm smile for her friend encouraging her to share. "It's nothing really, well nothing new at least (she hasn't decided if she was going  
to tell her friends about her slowly but steadily developing crush on Percy Jackson) it's just my mom's words from the other night coming back to me and with the season starting in a couple weeks I just have a lot on my mind but I'm ok." She assured.  
After a few moments of Piper leaning over and staring right at her squinting with suspicious eyes she relented.

"Ok I believe you." Piper said with a warm smile. "But just know I'm here if you wanna talk about anything ya know like of you got a big test coming up or your feeling stressed or there's a boy you have a big crush on…" Purposely leaving the last line  
hanging to see if Annabeth would let anything slip. Unfortunately for her Annabeth's face remained neutral. Of course, on the inside she felt like a deer in headlights, she just hoped her face didn't betray her feelings, 'OMG OMG OMG relax Annabeth  
she doesn't know anything she's just shooting in the dark, just play it cool' she told herself.

"Ahh thanks I guess…" She started but was cut off by the second bell ringing.

"Alright class that's enough let's begin." The monotone voice at the front of the class recited.

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Breathing a sigh of relief Annabeth push everything out of her mind and focused on the lesson. After class, walking to her locker Annabeth couldn't help but think about her conversation with Piper and how she just wanted to help and she just lied to her  
face. While she did feel guilty she knew she wasn't ready to admit her feelings and she really didn't want her friends to meddle in her love live.

After school Annabeth moved toward the gym today was the last day of tryouts for the team and as captain she had to be there, the list of students who make the team posted Friday at 3. While her friends who made varsity, last year were relatively guaranteed  
their place there are spots open from the seniors who graduated the last year. One of spots open was backup point guard, with Annabeth being the only returning member of the team to play that position she thought it was pivotal to have cover. Plus,  
as an upperclassman now she felt she had a responsibility to help the younger player excel. The one player her coach told her to watch during the tryout was sophomore Hazel Levesque, a young dark skinned girl who played point guard and had long curly  
hair barely restrained in a ponytail. Just from watching Annabeth tell the girl had talent, the way she handled the ball, and controlled the tempo. However, it was clear the girl had issues with compounding mistakes. Every time she lost the ball or  
let her opponent scored she made it worse by forcing a pass or taking a bad shot the next time down the court. Despite that Hazel was clearly good enough to make varsity this year. She couldn't wait until she had the opportunity to work with Hazel.  
She was a little worried there wouldn't be a girl good enough to fill that role and it would be a problem for the team all year if she had to miss any time, but she was confident Hazel would be able to excel and the team would be better because of  
it.

After the tryouts, they were joined by the rest of the varsity players and ran through a normal practice, then as they were gathering their belongings Piper started talking to her and Thalia, "sooooo guys did you hear about Silena's party tomorrow night?"  
She asked excitedly. Annabeth vaguely remember Silena inviting her during the week but hadn't thought anything of it.

"Yeah what of it?" Thalia asked bluntly. She always had such a way with words.

"Well obviously we should go!" Piper said jumping up, receiving skeptical looks from her teammates. "Oh, come ooooonnnnn this might be the last chance to unwind before the season starts." Looking to Annabeth now as Thalia merely scoffed and walked away.

"I don't Piper you know how my mom is." Annabeth says imaging a scenario where she convinces her mother to let her do anything fun."

"Easy fix just tell them you sleeping over my house, your mom likes me so i'm sure it'll be fine, plus my dad wont get back til late and he doesn't care what we do as long as were careful." Piper said decidedly, after solving Annabeth's excuse she was  
feeling confident in her ability to convince her friend to come along.

"Correction my mom doesn't hate you I don't think s he actually likes anyone, and why are you so focused on me going can't you drag Katie or Thalia?"

"Katie can't go she and her mom are going to a flower show or something, and about Thalia, there is actually another reason I want to go and you have to go with me, see I heard from Katie, who heard from Lacy, who heard from Silena that most of the boys  
team is going." Piper explained.

"And..." Annabeth pressed, causing Piper to sigh and wispier into her friend's ear. "uh huh, uh huh, uh huh... YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON JA-" Piper clasps her hand over her face preventing her from completely blowing Pipers secret immediately after hearing  
it. in a much softer tone "you have a crush on Jason?" she asks taken aback, "like Thalia's little brother are you kidding me? How did this happen?"

"I don't know it just kinda happened, he's just so sweet and cute and we have that civics class together and we just started chatting. I'm not sure but I think he likes me too." Piper said while smiling softly. Then she grabbed Annabeth's arm and whispered  
to her "And remember that time over the summer we went over Thalia's house and Jason was in the driveway playing Percy one on one shirtless!" she squealed while fanning herself exaggeratedly. "I mean can you blame me?" she asked with a smirk on her  
face. Annabeth did remember that and the mere memory of it caused a blush to dust her cheeks although the target of her thoughts were different than Pipers.

"Alright give me a second to wrap my head around this. So you have a crush on Jason Grace who is the brother of our friend Thalia," Piper nods. "Jason may or may not like you back but you think he does," she nods. "Jason is going to this party and you  
want to go so you can see if he likes you or is just friendly in class. A nod from Piper. "And I have to go with you because you need moral support and you can't take Thalia because you haven't told her you have a crush on her brother." Piper nod  
again. "Fine I'll go to the stupid party with you."

" Thanks Annie so much Ill see you tomorrow" she said trying to get away until Annabeth grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast, you have to tell Thalia, she needs to hear it from you, you're her friend and her teammate. For the sake of the team and my sanity." To which Piper agreed reluctantly, dreading the awkward conversation.

"Can I at least wait until after the party, there is no point telling her if Jason doesn't even like me." She pleaded.

"Fine do whatever just make sureshe finds out from you." Annabeth said feeling the this was starting to be a real pain in the ass for her, and it wasn't even her crush! After Piper leaves Annabeth is left to think to herself as he walks back to  
her dorm.

'Gods I definitely need to head back to the gym tomorrow morning.' she thought about all the stress that was adding up.

 **Bonus:**

Grover Underwood is walking to his locker when he sees his friend Percy walking while smacking his head right above his ear like there was something caught in there.

"Hey Percy, you good man?" he calls out, no response what so ever. "PERCY" Grover says a little louder trying to catch up with him and again Percy doesn't even react like he didn't hear him. Finally, he makes up the ground as Percy stops at his locker  
and claps him on the back.

"OH HEY MAN WHATS UP?" Percy practically yells even though his friend is standing right next to him. When Grover winces Percy looks concerned, "SORRY ABOUT THAT MY HEARING A LITTLE OUT OF WACK." To which Grover only reacts even more. After that Percy  
clamps his hands over his mouth embarrassed that he just screamed in his friend's ears, twice.

"Dude seriously how many times does this have to happen before you learn not to listen to her headphones with the volume all the way up?" Grover asks his friend while shaking his head though hes sure he only go every other word, though it seems enough  
when his friend just responded by grumbling into his locker.

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 **A/N Ok so I do have a couple of things to say about this chapter. First before you all flame me for Annabeth being OOC let me defend myself. First of I always thought of her as obviously in control, she smart and part of that to me is she's fairly aware of her feelings. In PJO we see Percy struggle with his feelings toward Annabeth basically right until the end but I think Annabeth was aware of hers toward him as far back as Mount St Helens in BotL, what stops her is Percy's aloofness as well as the unfortunate number of romantic rivals that enter with Rachel and Calypso being the two main ones. Her pride is too much for her to admit to Percy when there's a chance he won't reciprocate them. That's why it takes so long. (Gets down from soapbox) Just as a reference im a guy, the reason i say that is ive always had a little trouble thinking from Annabeth's POV. Not only did i immediately relate to Percy and not Annabeth like most of my female friends that read the books, but the entire first series was in his POV so ill always be more comfortable writing from his perspective. That being said I hope I do an alright job for you guys and if you don't think i am definitely let me know with a review. Alright Thank you.**


	4. Chapter 4

So, it was finally Friday, the day the final rosters for the basketball teams came out, it signified the last step before the games started in next week. It was also the day of Silena's party, which of course Percy was being dragged to. It seemed like he was going to have to get used to sharing the gym in the morning because Annabeth had showed up for the 3rd day in a row. Fortunately, he managed not to make a fool of himself when she walked in, he only offered her a small smile, still embarrassed about yesterday. She didn't seem to think anything of it as she quickly responded with a smile and wave. Percy was saved from his musings when Jason walked in a few minutes later. Jason had mentioned during the week that he would like to stop in one day and play a little one on one which of course was fine by him. It had been a few weeks since their last game. The entire time they had known each other there had always been a bit of a friendly rivalry, and when Percy joined Jason at Goode and the basketball team the rivalry intensified to the point where last summer they played one on one against each other multiple times each week. Even though Percy received most of the hype, Jason was very skilled as well. As the team's second leading scorer Jason is also an accomplished defender and often asked to guard the other team's best player. Percy figures they've played each other a few dozen times by now with him winning a little more the half of them.

"You sure you wanna do this." Percy said with a smirk on his face passing to ball to Jason with a hard chest pass.

"Of course, don't you remember last time." Jason said coolly referring to the most recent game which Jason took, while catching the ball smoothly.

"That was a fluke and you know it."

"Alright enough talk, check rock." Jason said ending the banter bouncing the ball to Percy as they began their game. Jason getting the ball first because he won the last game. It was a simple game, first to twenty-one, each basket was one point with three pointers now earning 2 points, you call your own fouls. As soon as Jason got the ball back he began dribbling right toward his strong hand. Percy immediately try to cut him off by sliding over. Jason then turned to put his body in between the ball and Percy and back down Percy hoping to use his size advantage. After a couple of dribbles, about 15 feet from the basket, Jason stopped, turned and fired a fade away jumper over Percy's out stretched hand, hitting the backboard at the perfect angle and banking it in. "That's one." Jason said smirking as he checked it to Percy, who only scowled as he got it. While Jason had pure size and strength over Percy, a little over an inch and probably 20 or so pounds, Percy had much better handles. Percy began dribbling around, first left, then right testing Jason's defense, which as he suspected was solid. He then decided to make his move, he started dribbling more intensely, through his legs and then moved right and showed Jason the ball causing him to lung to try and stay in front. He then pulled it back switching it to his left behind his back and slashed left giving him a half step on Jason who was desperately trying to recover, but a half step was enough as he expertly finished with his left shielding the ball from Jason with his body as the ball rolled in.

"Game on," the said simultaneously as the continued their heated game.

POV Change: Annabeth

'Jeez they guys really take their games seriously,' she thought with a sweat drop. 'I mean it's just a stupid one on one, it's not like it means anything." Seeing the two boys compete as if their lives depended on it with no one watching was a little weird especially because she knew the two have had numerous games like this one. 'Men' she scoffed and shook her head, figuring she would never understand their ultra-competitive nature.

*Bzzzz*

She stopped belittling the boy's assuredly super important game ad pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the message

*Hey where you at? Im at school early and its soooooo empty and im soooooo bored? * - Piper.

*At the gym. Jason is here too! Prime gawking opportunity (suggestive smirk emoji) * - Annabeth

*jeeeezz be cool Annie im not going to gawk at him like a lovesick puppy or something. But you are my friend so its totally normal for me to visit you at the gym and if Jason just so happens to be there and I just so happened to notice him then so be it. See you soon (winking with tongue out emoji)*

Annabeth simply shook her head at her friend's round about justification to see her crush. A few minutes later as Annabeth was shooting free throws Piper walked into the gym with her friend Leo Valdez. She liked Leo, his was a bit frantic and always seemed like he just downed a gallon of coffee but he is well meaning.

"Sup Annie." Piper started, "I found this one breaking into the shop class, thought I'd bring him with me to keep him out of trouble."

"It's ok. Hey Leo."

"Annabeth." Leo nodded in acknowledgement, "I like to say in my defense that these charges are outrageous and untrue and it's not my fault they keep changing the stupid locks." Leo stated dejectedly to which Annabeth and Piper give each other a knowing look. "Anyway, is that blonde superman and the superstar going one on one." Leo said drawling attention to the this going on match-up behind them. Annabeth assumed 'blonde superman' was Jason and 'superstar' was Percy, accurate if you ask her.

"Yeah they must be playing to twenty-one cause they've been going at it for like 20 minutes." Annabeth said filling the duo in.

"Wow they're really going at it," Piper commented.

"I wonder what the score is?" Leo questioned aloud.

"You know we can hear everything you guys are saying, right?" Percy asked from the other side of the court mid dribble and not even turning around. The trio were a bit embarrassed at having just been called out but continued to follow the action as they made their way to the bleachers, Percy made a move, faked left went right, stepped back and hit a jumper right in Jason's eye. Turning back to the others, who were all clearly impressed, Percy said "And the score. Its 20-18 and I have game point" with a cocky smirk clearly at Jason's expense.

"Come on Jason what are you doing, you can beat this guy he's nothing." Leo encouraged. "Hmmm no offense Percy." Jason didn't react clearly focused on beating his friend, while Percy laughed the comment off.

"Goooo Jason you can do it." Piper cheered with a small blush trying to help her friend/crush. Annabeth thought it was kind of cute. She momentarily thought about cheering for Percy openly but quickly shook her head to banish the thought.

"Yeah Jason come on, you just gotta beat me, you don't wanna let your fans down do you." Percy taunted. But Jason stayed cool and made a tough layup through contact. Much to Leo and Piper's delight as they cheered for his made shot. After the basket, he turned to the three spectators and smiled widely at them. Though Annabeth had a feeling it was really meant for just Piper. Even though Jason made his basket he was still down and all Percy had to do was make his next shot and the game would be over.

"Alright this has been fun and all but I think it's time to end it. Sorry Jason's pep squad." Percy goaded as he idly dribbled between his legs just out of Jason's reach. Annabeth couldn't help but smile to herself and shake her head at this playfully expressive side of Percy she hasn't seen much of. She rarely got this vibe from him before, and whenever she saw him play he was never trash talking or rubbing his success in his opposites' face, but she supposed because it was Jason and just a meaningless game with hardly any spectators that he could fully express himself. Part of her is quite glad she got to glimpse it and wonders how many people Percy let's see him like this. She doesn't think it's a lot because whenever there's gossip or girls gushing about him its always includes his quiet, calm exterior but this Percy was playful, brash, expressive and cocky, definitely cocky.

Then Percy backed up a few steps to get a running start and ran right at Jason who was quickly back peddling, at the last moment he feinted left spun right, leaned back and shot a high arcing floater over Jason's arm and into the hoop. As soon as the shot was made Annabeth expected Percy to jump around in excitement or, yell and holler about his victory but he didn't do anything, he simply went over to help Jason up after he had gone to ground after lunging after Percy in a failed attempt to alter the shot.

"That was a good one man. I thought for a minute there you had me." Percy playfully jested.

"Yeah yeah alright, I would've won if you hadn't hit that crazy contested 2 pointer." Jason shot back.

"What does that make the score? 51-49 in my favor I believe." Percy said stating the score of their longtime rivalry.

"Are you two telling me actually keep count of your one on one games?" Annabeth asked incredulously, as the two walked over to the bleachers with them after the game ended. Percy and Jason just looked at each wondering what was weird about that and dumbly nodded. "And you've had over 100 games" she pressed finding the situation to be bewildering.

"Exactly 100 actually but I mean yeah." Percy added while meekly rubbing the back of his head suddenly embarrassed for a reason he didn't quite understand. Leo took this time to greet his best friend. Jumping over and good-humoredly throwing faux punches at Jason's abs.

"What happened out there bud, you looked shook, did Percy put one too many moves on you, how are your ankles, if you get hurt coach said I get your spot on the team, I've been working on my jumper recently, Piper even said it wasn't the worst she's ever seen. don't worry when I get drafted I'll make sure to give you a shout out." Leo said in quick succession, Percy and Annabeth who were less used to rapid fire style were left wondering what just happened. But fortunately, Jason was well versed.

"Uh Leo." Jason interrupted getting his friends attention. "Shut up"

"Right." Leo admitted sheepishly.

Turning his attention to Piper. "Hey Pipes" he said with a bright smile.

"Hey Jason." Piper smiled sweetly, locking eyes with her crush. After a few moments that passed without either of them saying anything the rest of the group began to feel uncomfortable.

"Ahhh so you guys going to Selina's party tonight?" Leo asked no one in particular just hoping to fill the silence that his two friends, who were obviously crushing on each other, were creating.

Snapping out of her stupor Jason jumped in to the conversation. "Yeah we are, do you want a ride?" he enquired

"Most definitely that'd be hype. Who's all going?

"well me, Grover, Beckendorf, the Stolls, hopefully Nico if we can drag him out of his room and of course Percy." Jason said happily slapping his buddy on the back. Percy grimacing when Jason mentioned him a small part of him hoping Jason would forget the whole thing.

A bit shocked at Percy's inclusion Annabeth without thinking cut in "oh, Percy you're gonna be there?" she asked. Percy was a bit embarrassed by the sudden comment.

"Ahh yea I'll be there. I know it's not really my scene but I was persuaded to give it a shot." He said giving Jason a pointed look.

"That's funny I was also coerced into attending." Annabeth admitted looking at Piper who at least seemed a little embarrassed unlike Jason. Percy couldn't help but feel better about the party knowing Annabeth would be there because after all misery loves company.

"Cool I guess I'll see you there."

"Cool." Annabeth said a smile etched on her face sharing a moment with Percy as they shared small smiles. After realizing they had been locking eyes for a few moments and the others had begun to take notice they simultaneously looked away shyly.

"Anyway, I better go clean up before the bell I guess I'll see you guys later." Percy said heading to the locker room running his hand through his wet hair one last time before turning.

"Wait up Perce I'll be right there." Jason said calling after him "Later ill see yall at the party" he says running to catch up. Giving a wave to Piper as he went.

"Yeah see ya Jace, see ya superstar" Leo yelled as they left. Percy shaking his head at Leo's ridiculous nickname.

"Man, Leo really needs to stop with the nicknames, their getting out of hand." Percy says walking into the locker room.

"I don't know I think their pretty funny and they have definitely gotten better. Remember that time you won that race at Grover's 12 birthday party at the pool and he called you aquaman till freshmen year?" Jason laughed in response.

"Gods I try not to." Percy conceded with a sigh.

"So, man now are you glad I'm making you go to this party?" Jason asked seemingly out of nowhere.

"What are you talking about?" he said clearly confused judging by the bewildered look on his face.

"Annabeth dude. You're obviously crushing on her and she's going too and now you have the perfect time and place to talk to her nonchalantly." Jason explains as if it was the most obvious thing it the world.

Percy scoffed at the idea he had a crush on Annabeth or anybody for that matter. Him and Annabeth were just friends, so what if he was happy she was coming to the party. Isn't that what friends do. "Pssshhh yeah right good one man me having a crush on Annabeth that's rich." Percy playing off the accusation. Which Jason clearly didn't buy.

"Whatever you say man." Jason could only shake his head. 'Gods this kid is more clueless than I was.'

 **A/N So here it is, another hopefully not terrible chapter. Sorry about the wait I was moving out of my apartment and I just started summer courses for school so its been a hectic few weeks. So I'm going to pull back to** **curtain and let you guys in on something I've been struggling with for this story. So one of the reasons I love PJO so much and the reason I'm writing this story is because the characters are so great and there are so many good ones. I mean Percy, Nico, Grover, Leo, Thalia, Annabeth these are great characters with real depth and even the minor characters like Beckendorf and Selina are phenomenal and I love all of them and honestly really want to write them, but I've seen a lot of stories with decent writers and good premise get bogged down by trying to include 9 or 10 characters in the main plot. I know I am not a good enough writer to pull that off so I won't even try but I am going to try and use a lot of great character Rick gave us like Hazel and Frank and Beck and Selina even if they are just small parts and don't appear in most chapters that way you can see all your favorites and I dont go crazy trying to make the plot work around 12 people. Hopefully a win-win. In relation to the basketball scenes Im going to treat them the way Ive seen other writers use battle scenes. Give you enough to where if your interested in them they should satisfy you but if you couldn't care less if you skim through them you shouldn't miss too much and with still be able to enjoy so again I am going to try to find a good balance**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Disclaimer I do not own any of the characters in this story or in the PJO universe nor do i make any money from this. Enjoy!**

* * *

As classes mercifully drew to an end Percy lazily strolled out of class and down towards the gym where the roster for the basketball team was going to be posted. Not that he was worried about them, he had a general idea on what it would look like but  
he felt that as one of the leaders of the team that he should be down there to help comfort/encourage those we either didn't make the team or were nervous about having made it. When he got there, he saw Beckendorf seemingly comforting this kid Pollux  
who was a nice enough kid but Percy didn't think would make the team and evidently did not. He clearly had the same idea. Once he saw the roster up on the bulletin board he went to look it over.

 **Goode High School Men's Varsity Basketball Team Roster** -

Soph.- Nico Di Angelo – Point Guard*

Senior – Dakota Scott – Shooting Guard*

Junior – Percy Jackson – Small Forward*

Junior – Jason Grace – Power Forward*

Senior – Charles Beckendorf – Center* (Captain)

Soph. – Frank Zhang – C/PF

Junior – Conner Stall – SG/SF

Junior – Travis Stall – SF/SG

Senior – Lee Flecher – PG

Junior – T.J. McConnell– PG

Senior – Richaun Holmes – C

Senior – Hollis Thompson – SG

*-Starters

Percy nodded while giving it one more look. No real surprises, the starters have been known for weeks, him and Jason will be the focal points on offense, Beck will bully teams inside and provide defensive cover, Dakota's only job is to play defense and  
hit threes and of course Nico one of the two sophomores on the team is on the team to control the game with his passing, isn't expected to do too much offensively with him and Jason getting most of the looks but limit mistakes and keep the ball moving.  
Speaking of sophomores, the other youngster on the team also going to have a bigger role than most people, including himself probably, thought at the end of last year. I guess that's what happens when you have a 4-inch growth spurt over the summer  
and come in with 20 more pounds of muscle because that's what happened Frank Zhang. Now Percy didn't really know Frank last year he was just some big kid on the Freshmen team. To be honest he was a bit worried that Beck would have to play big minutes  
every night and would get worn out because they really didn't have anyone who could replace him, but with Frank's improved physic and developing skill set the team was in good hands if Beck or Jason ever needed a rest. The final three guys on the  
list didn't figure to really impact the team very much.

Speaking of the big guy Percy saw him making his way to the roster looking pretty nervous but getting support from a small girl who he vaguely recognized. Percy stepped out of the way and gave the two some space as they looked at the list. Percy idly  
remember how he knew the girl Frank was with. Her name is Hazel, they shared a history class together and he believes she's on the girl's team. When the couple (Percy assumed they were together based on their body language but he didn't know for sure)  
made their way over to the list and saw franks name they had very different reactions, Hazel jumped up and down with her hands covering her mouth then slapped Franks arm in an 'I told you so' manor, Frank on the other hand seemed a bit shocked and  
just had a soft smile on his face. After giving the two a moment Percy decided to go over and congratulate Frank.

"Hey Frank." He said strolling up to the two. They turned to see Percy and Frank seemed unsure of why he would be coming to talk to him.

"Oh, hey Percy what's up?" Franks asked as nonchalantly as he could which was probably not very. Hazel simply offered a small wave that Percy returned with a 100 mega-watt smile.

"I just wanted it say congrats man. Making the team as a sophomore is no joke and You totally earned it, hope you're ready for the season cause were definitely winning state this year, and you're gonna be a big part of that." Percy said confidently.

"Um thanks Percy I appreciate that. I uh won't let you down." Frank replied shyly. As he did Beckendorf entered the conversation, clapping Frank on the back causing him to wince and Percy give a sympathetic look.

"Of course, he won't, not with me teaching him everything I know." The senior smoothly explained.

"Wowwww everything you know… and what you'll do after the half an hour that takes?" Percy asks mockingly, getting Frank and Hazel to chuckle and receiving an elbow to the ribs for his troubles from his 'so called friend'.

Hazel tugged Frank to get his attention. "Hey I'm gonna go check the girls roster real quick while you finish up with these guys." Frank nodded

"Ok I'll be right there, good luck." Frank offered. Hazel waved bye to the boys and left to check her team's roster.

"Thanks for the support guys, I appreciate it." Frank began. "I gotta go support her now, I'll see you on Monday." Beginning to walk away from the two. Until Percy and Beckendorf shared a look and stopped him in his tracks.

"Not so fast Franky." Beck began after him and Percy circled around to get in front of Frank. "You know my girlfriend, right?"

"Ahh yea." Frank said clearly confused as to where this is going.

"Well you see she's hosting this party tonight and the whole team is going and now that includes you." Beckendorf said implying there wasn't much of a choice. Seeing that Frank was still apprehensive Percy decided to step in.

"Think of it as a team bonding experience." Percy offered. Beck then put his arm around the younger teen.

"This is a time for celebration. Come to the party, enjoy yourself, relax because on Monday is when the real work starts." The large man was clearly very convincing judging by Franks look of indecision. The trio then heard a commotion coming from behind  
them. Percy was the first to react

"Well Frank it looks like there is another reason to celebrate." Percy said as he pointed to the cause of said commotion. It was Hazel with a couple other members of the girl's team that were clearly congratulating her. Frank just had a big smile on his  
face and his reaction was probably bigger than when he saw that he made the team.

"Awesome, alright you better get over there Frank." Beck then pushes him toward Hazel. "Well pick you up tonight." Beck called after him pretty sure that Frank got the message. He then turned to Percy as the two were left by themselves. "I like that kid."  
To which Percy nodded. "Its gonna be a great night. See ya tonight bud." Beck said slapping his friend on the back as he left.

'Jeez he's gotta stop doing that.' Percy thought wincing again. He then looked back over the Frank and Hazel and saw Annabeth congratulate Hazel herself. 'Eh maybe tonight won't be so bad.' He thought as he walked back to is room.

* * *

 **POV Change. Annabeth 60 seconds earlier**

'Jeez today took forever.' Annabeth thought closing her locker and heading toward the gym. 'Well lets see what were working with.' she thought walking up the the roster for the girls team already seeing Piper there.

 **Goode High School Women's Varsity Basketball Team Roster**

Starters in Bold

Junior – Annabeth Chase – Point Guard* (Captain)

Senior –Thalia Grace – Shooting Guard*

Senior - Zoe Nightshade – Small Forward*

Junior – Reyna Ramírez-Arellano - Power Forward*

Junior - Clarisse La Rue – Center*

Junior – Piper Mclean – SF/SG

Soph. – Hazel Levesque – PG/SG

Junior – Katie Gardner – SF/PF

Soph. – Gwen Randle – PF/C

Senior – Kelsey Plum – SG/PG

Junior - Alaina Coates – C

Soph. - Allisha Gray –SF/PF

*-Starters

'yup seems about right' the roster what exactly like she expected. They were going to have a really strong team. They had 4 starters coming back and most of their core were experienced upperclassmen. The front court will be tough for any team to match  
up with. With Clarisse, an imposing center to say the least and who Annabeth would personally hate to play against but the kind of player you know has your back, Reyna, the fearless and technically sound power forward and Zoe the graceful small forward  
who was the most athletic member on the team as well as the teams lock down defender. Of course her and Thalia weren't to bad themselves. Thalia was the leading scorer last year and probably will again. They will definitely have to lean on Piper,  
Hazel, Katie and Gwen if they had any hopes of making it far in the playoffs as it was a lack of depth last year that really stalled last years team. The last three girls probably won't see too much of the court unless they lose a player or two. She  
was interrupted from her thoughts when she saw Hazel reach the list, realize she made the team and get very excited and begin jumping up and down.

"Yessss!' she exclaimed then seeing that Annabeth was literately standing right next to her the entire time and that she cause a commotion that got the attention of most of the room including Piper who had just arrived and began to walk over only seemed  
mildly embarrassed when they made eye contact.

"Congrats Hazel. You really earned" Annabeth said sincerely, noting how excited was that her hard work paid off. Hazel returned a big smile.

"Thank you so much Annabeth, that means a lot you're like the best player I've ever seen, I can't wait to start working together. I promise I going to give this season my all every day and I will do my best to help us win state" The younger girl pledged  
with fierce determination in her eyes.

"We know you will Hazel don't worry about that just yet, like you said just give 100% every time and let us take care of the rest ok?" Annabeth replied glad that Hazel was so determined but thought she could pump the breaks a bit. "Don't worry about state  
or anything like that, there will be time for that later, right now just enjoy yourself, relax and we will go out this year and try to have a little fun and win a few games. Alright?" she finished up. Hazel nodded profusely.

"Of course, you're totally right, thanks again." Hazel politely responded and turned just as a large burly teen came rushing toward her who she vaguely recognized but didn't remember from where.

"Did you make it?" The large boy exclaimed.

"See for yourself Frank." Hazel responded still running on adrenaline. The boy who she now knows as Frank looked at the list and pulled Hazel into a big hug.

"That's so awesome Hazel. I'm so proud of you." He gushed

"Thanks. I'm just so happy we both did it." Hazel said blushing from the public display of affection.

"Alright Ill see you later." Annabeth said sensing the two we a couple and wanted to give them their privacy.

"Hey wait why don't you come to this party were going to tonight?" Piper said joining the conversation.

"A Party? I don't know, I don't drink or anything." Hazel said apprehensively looking back and forth between the two older girls.

"Oh don't worry about that. You don't have to drink if you don't want to, a lot of people who go to these things don't drink. Its way more casual then the high school parties in the movies and stuff trust me." Piper explained. "I mean me and Annabeth  
are going, and so are a bunch of the other girls on the team. We know the girl who is hosting it Selina and shes really cool. It'll be fun." Piper said in her very matter of fact manor. Hazel however still looked unconvinced.

"Actually Hazel, a couple of the guys on the team were saying that i should go to that party too. That it was a 'team bonding experience'" Frank explained using air quotes. "I'm not saying you have to go with me but I think it could be fun." he offered.  
Piper and Annabeth both giggled at the guys excuse for getting Frank to go to the party. Hazel definitely seemed more receptive to Franks plea. Annabeth figured it'd be good for the girl to blow off some steam tonight. She seemed really wound up about  
the tryouts so she figured she might as well try to convince her to go.

"Yeah Hazel I think it'll be fun with you there. And if you don't have to stay if you get there and don't like it I promise I'll take you home. I wasn't planning on staying that long anyway." Annabeth said convicingly, Piper would probably have something  
to say about the late part but too bad. Hazel seemed to think it over for a few seconds before coming to a decision.

"OK if you all think it'll be fun then i guess Ill go." she said cheerfully.

"Great, I'll pick you up tonight" Annabeth said.

"Sounds good I guess ill see you later." Hazel confirmed. The group then split into pairs, Annabeth and Piper walking to the latter's car waving bye to Frank and Hazel.

Opening the doors and climbing in Piper let out a satisfied sigh, "Now all we have to do is figure out what you are going to wear." Piper said with a cheeky grin. Annabeth tried (but failed) not to visibly slump imagining having to try on clothes for  
the daughter of a fashion designer. 'Oh gods please let this day end soon' Annabeth desperately pleaded.

* * *

 **A/N So hey, I'm back. I know its been a minute but I'm glad i finally finished this chapter. I Had it 3/4s done for the longest time but my motivation really fell through the basement. For that I am sorry. As for future updates all I can say is right now I'd like to continue writing this story as long as somebody wants to read it. That being said the best thing for you as the reader to do is to write reviews for this to let me know that you're interested in me continuing this story that will help keep me motivated. I still really like how its gone so far and have high hopes for the rest of the plot. My hope is to have the next chapter out in a week or two. So anyway thanks for reading, I hope you leave a review, if you have any questions about the story I am more than willing to answer you back. Peace!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N I do not own, Percy Jackson or the franchise, I do not own the characters only the plot. I make no money off of this story.**

* * *

"Hey, you almost ready G-man?" Percy yelled though the bathroom door. It was nearly nine and Jason was gonna be there any minute to pick them and Nico up to head to Selina's house.

"Yeah man just gimme a minute" Grover said from behind the door undoubtedly still messing with his hair. "why don't you give Nico a call to see if he's still going?"

'Oh, he's going even if I have to drag by the scruff of the neck out of his room.' Percy thought, grabbing his phone to call his cousin, who lived in the same dorm building as he and Grover. After a few rings Nico's face popped up on his screen, he didn't seem to be ready for a party but Nico never really cared too much about his appearance "oh hey man what's up?" Nico asked his cousin like he wasn't expecting to hear from him.

"Dude!" Percy exclaimed, frustrated by his cousin's aloof attitude "Please tell me you are ready to leave for this party." Nico's face flashed with confusion then recognition.

"Ohhh right that's tonight isn't it." Nico replied but still not moving. To which Percy could only nod dumbly. "oh ok, ehhh I guess I could go. I'm not really doing anything right now." He coolly responded.

"Yeah I can see that. You wanna get ready anytime soon cause Jason is gonna be here in like 5 minutes to pick me and Grover up." He tried explained to his lackadaisical cousin.

"Nah man I'm good, lemme just grab a jacket I'll come through to your room." Nico explained.

"Whatever man." Percy said shaking his head and hanging up. At this point Grover had exited the bathroom and was lacing up is shoes. "So, Nico is gonna meet us here then we can walk down to wait for Jason."

"Sounds good." Grover said. He was wearing a green shirt with the recycle logo on it because of course he was, with a pair of jeans and a brown jacket. Percy had tan khaki pants, a blue button down long sleeve shirt and black basketball shoes. Though if he could have he'd prefer to just wear a hoodie and shorts. "alright I'm ready, you got everything?" Grover said colleting his items. Percy just stopped to send a quick text to Frank to make sure he was still on board. Hearing a knock at the door.

"Yep that's Nico lets go." Percy said opening the door finding his little cousin dressed in black shoes, long black jeans and a baggy black jacket. 'sounds about right.' "Sup Nico, lets go, im sure by the time we walk down stairs Jason will be there." Not letting him enter as Grover exited as well.

"Cool, cool, cool." Nico replied … coolly. "So how long are you gonna stay at this party Perce?" Percy, who was texting Jason to call them as soon as he got there, looked up from his phone.

"I don't know man I figure we get there scope it out. If its chill I'd probably stay for a couple hours. If not, we can just grab an uber pretty early." He answered.

"Fair enough, either of you ever been to one of Selina's parties?" Nico asked again. Receiving negative head shakes from the other two. "Yea me neither, welp I guess it'll be a new experience." Nico said chuckling. Then what looked like Jason's car pulled up to the trio. Sticking his head out the window.

"Yall need a ride" Jason called out, the trio shaking their heads at his terrible attempt at a joke. Percy climbed into front seat while the others climbed in the back.

"Whats good man?" Percy asked extending his fist which Jason promptly pounded.

"Chilling. You ready for tonight." He asked obviously excited for the nights events, "it's gonna be a good time." His excitement was contagious as Grover was in the back nodding and even Nico cracked a smile. Before he forgot Percy spoke up.

"Hey, can we make one more stop?" Percy said. "You know Frank Zhang?" Jason seeing where this was going made a right to go to franks dorm building. Percy then called Frank as they pulled up. "Yo Frank, you ready." … "Aright cool were outside." "Alright he's coming down, Nico or Grover, make room and slide into the middle." Nico and Grover locked eyes with both of them refusing to back down. "Oh, for the love of…. Would one of you grow up. It's a ten-minute drive for crying out loud." Percy said exasperated. Neither moved a muscle still locked in a stare down. As this was happening Frank exited this building in a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Making his way to the car. "Jason can you help me out here? I mean it is your car you decide. Is that ok with both of you?" Percy asks. Since neither made an objection Percy took that as a win.

"Ok who to pick ahhhh Nico slide over bud." Jason announced much to Nico's chagrin. Frank then walked up and slid in, very cramped in the back seats. "How ya doing Frank. You alright back there?" Jason asked chuckling at the sight of the large teen in the backseat.

"Hey guys, I'll be ok I guess." Frank said feeling cramped but not wanting to make a big deal.

"Hang tight Frank it's a pretty quick drive." Percy called back, with his legs stretched out and head leaned back.

"Easy for you to say, were the ones packed back here like sardines." Nico commented, getting a laugh from Frank and Grover.

"Alright that's enough out of you short stuff, sophomores are made to be seen not heard.' Was Percy's rebuttal. Which got a laugh from 3/5s of the car. Nico and Frank just looked at each other and shake their heads disappointedly.

POV Change: Annabeth.

As Annabeth entered Selina Beauregard's massive house with Hazel, Piper and Leo, she was pleasantly surprised, instead of a scene from a bad 90's High school movie there was just a large number of teens, generally acting like reasonable, sensible young adults. Sure, there was a slight smell of alcohol in the air and the music from the speakers were a few notched louder than necessary but neither assaulted her senses like she feared. As soon as she walked in she saw the living room with furniture moved to act as a workable dance floor with the speakers bumping a strange mix of Pop music mixed with mid 2000s alternative music along with heavy trap beats.

"Alright ladies, I'm going to help myself to some beverages. Care to join me." Leo declared clapping his hands and pointing toward the hallway that must lead to the kitchen. Piper shrugged and moved to follow him. Hazel unsure of what to do in this new environment looked to Annabeth, who figured she might as well get a better layout of the house motioned to Hazel that they should also continue further into the house. When they got there, they saw the center of attention herself, Selina Beauregard. She was seemingly in the middle of three different conversations, was greeting everyone she saw while also keeping the kitchen stocked with drinks, cups and snacks and judging by her expression was loving every minute of it. As soon as she saw them she swelled with glee.

"Ohhh Piper! You made it." She exclaimed. Dropping the red solo cups she was holding on the table and moving to embrace Piper, the two aren't super close but they have known each other for a while as their parents have worked together in the past and they have remained friendly.

"Of course, I made it, like I'm gonna miss the best party of the year, you look great by the way." Piper said gesturing to Selina's outfit which consisted of a dark pink dress and a black belt that hugged her waste.

"Oh thanks" Selina replied, jokingly flipping her hair in an exaggerated fashion. "You too, I love that top." Piper was wearing a simple white blouse over cut off jean shorts. Selina then looked past Piper at the rest of the group "Oh Annie look at you, I never thought I'd have the two best athletes at the school both coming to my party. So great to have you here." Annabeth could only assume that she was talking about Percy, further confirming his imminent appearance at the party. "Help yourselves to whatever, there is beer in the keg, liquor on the counter" Selina explained, then saw Annabeth and Hazel's look of apprehension. "Also in that cooler over there are water bottles and ice tea and stuff, if you need anything else just let me know." Selina said moving to perform some other party task, before calling back. "Oh, Leo honey, try not to break anything." Causing Piper and Annabeth to burst out laughing, Hazel to struggle to hid her giggles and for Leo to slump down.

"That happened one time." Leo said depressed, before grapping a pile of cups and moving to the keg, after pouring one for himself, he offered the girls, Piper nodded but Annabeth and Hazel both declined before grabbing water bottles.

"People don't forget my friend." Beckendorf said walking up to the keg helping pump it for Leo and patting him on the back condescendingly. Getting another round of laughs from the girls.

"Some friend's you guys are." Leo said mockingly hurt.

"Did you all just get here?" Beck inquired as Leo handed Piper her drink.

"Yeah, you see Jason and those guys yet?" Leo asked hoping to even out the male to female ratio that he has been dealing with.

"Ahh no, I think they are on their way now, Jason's driving Percy, Nico, Grover and Frank I think. So, they had to make a few stops. Prolly be here in a few." Beck explained finishing the contents of his cup. Piper, Annabeth and Hazel all had their interest peaked at varying points of the sentence but the end result was the same, the interest of their thoughts would be here soon.

"Oh CHARLIIIEEEE! HELP ME MOVE THESE SPEAKERS!" Echoed through the house causing Beck to face fault and Leo to get a shit-eating grin on his face. The two looked at each other, one sensing an inevitable defeat and the other having been given a gift from the gods.

"Well CHARLIE I think you better get going you don't want the ole ball and chain to have to move those heavy speakers all by herself." Leo dramatically proclaimed. He then stayed silent inviting a rebuttal from Beckendorf he knew would never come. Beck stared at Leo unamused unwilling to stoop to his level though Leo will say that he is unable to refute it. Beck shook his head frustrated at Leo's quipe.

"Well I guess I better go." He began.

"Yeah man we'll see ya later" Leo said cutting him off slapping him on the back, unwilling to replace the massive grin on his face.

"Shut up Leo. Later ladies." Beck said sighing, he shot Leo one last death glare before waving to the girls and walking to the living room to help his girlfriend. As he left Leo let out a satisfied sigh.

"You proud of yourself." Piper asked sarcastically.

"Oh, you have no idea." He laughed out. "Those are moments I live for." He explained. Causing Piper and Annabeth to shake their heads and Hazel to chuckle into her hand. "Alright" he exclaimed getting their attention and clapping and rubbing his hands together ready to move on. "Let's go check out the backyard?" He declared, and before giving the girls a chance to answer he turned around and went outside. The girls reluctantly followed. There were not as many people outside as it was a little chilly and still fairly early so the party had yet to reach peak compacity. Though there were around a dozen or so people out in a couple groupings. It was a pretty big back yard with a yard patio reaching out to a large field of grass with some lawn furniture out. On the patio, they noticed that one of the groups included some of the girls on the basketball team. It was Reyna and Gwen along with Gwen's on again off again boyfriend Dakota, judging by how close they were they were clearly back on. As soon as Reyna saw them she waved to them seemingly desperate to no longer have to deal with her friends condoling right in front of her alone.

"Ohhh look at that it's the girls." Reyna said getting the attention of her previously occupied companions. "and Leo." She said a little less enthused.

"Hello Reyna, my you are looking marvelous tonight if I may say." Leo said wiggling his eyebrows. Reyna was very clearly not impressed and gave him a wicked side eye before moving to Hazel.

"Hazel I haven't properly congratulated you for making the team. Congrats and we are glad to have you on the team." She offered. A sentiment which Gwen agreed with nodding.

"Oh, thanks so much Reyna." Hazel said nervously, still not totally comfortable with all the attention especially since Frank still hasn't showed up. As they were talking Piper's phone buzzed. Annabeth moved over there as the two whispered while the rest of the group talked about the team.

"Ohh Jason just texted me" Piper cooed, bumping her hip into Annabeth's. "he said he just got here and asked if I was here yet. He soooo wants me" Piper stated matter-of-factly with a know it all smirk on her face.

"Totally" Annabeth replied sarcastically. Which Piper brushed off already consumed with her reply. After a few seconds of furiously typing on her phone, Piper looked up with a satisfied look on her face. "What did you say?" Annabeth asks sighing.

"Oh nothing, just that a couple of us are in the backyard, and this if he wanted to come back that'd be cool." Piper replied with a very satisfied look on her face. "10 bucks he's out here within 5 minutes." Piper goads. Causing a very over-it Annabeth to roll her eyes. Deciding to ignore any more of Piper's self-absorption and to try and put up the groups conversation that she had been tuning out.

"Yeah so I woke up in the backyard in my underwear and the chickens were gone!" Leo said waving his arms wildly, clearly in the middle of an obviously false story. Dakota however was very engrossed in his tale.

"What'd you do then Leo" He said in awe.

"What do you think man, I put on my pants and I got out of there." Leo finished. Annabeth looked around to the rest of the group to see their reactions. Reyna was unimpressed with Leo's tall tale to say the least, mindlessly scrolling on her phone, Hazel was clearly uncomfortable with the contents on the story and made Annabeth glad she didn't hear the whole thing.

"Alright then I'll be right back I gotta ahh use the restroom." Annabeth told the group, then she looked at Hazel pointedly, offering her an escape from the situation.

"Oh, I'll go with you if you want." Hazel replied. To which Annabeth nodded.

"Past the kitchen, down the hallway on the right and it'll be on the left." Leo called out, aware of the layout as he had been to parties here before. Annabeth and Hazel then left the group to head in.

"So, do I wanna know the rest of that story." Annabeth asked whispering.

"Ohh nooo, trust me you are better off not knowing." She said through giggles. The house was definitely starting to fill up, there was now a long line for the drinks and the makeshift dancefloor was more or less full. They saw another member of their team, Zoe Nightshade on their way to the bathroom. She seemed to be enjoying herself on the dancefloor with a few of her friends crowding around her. Since Annabeth was just looking for an excuse to get away from Piper's smugness and Leo's extravagant story telling she didn't really have to go to the bathroom, however Hazel still had to go so Annabeth offered to wait outside and watch the door and her drink to make sure neither were disturbed. Which is just good party etiquette no matter where you are. After Hazel got out of the bathroom they decided they would do another walkthrough of the house before heading back outside. As they walked through the kitchen as they turned the corner to head back into the living room Annabeth was suddenly stopped when she ran into what felt like a brick wall. Stumbling Annabeth was able to regain her balance after a pair of hands reached out and steadied her.

"Oh, shit Annabeth are you ok. I'm so sorry I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." The 'brick wall' profusely apologized. Annabeth immediately recognized the voice and knew exactly who she had run into, even before she looked up into his sea-green eyes and used his large stature to secure herself. She couldn't decide whether her luck was unbelievably good or poor, that she would just so happen to stumble into the arms of the object of her thoughts for the past week. She took a deep breath to gather her out of control thoughts, and took a second to appreciate the warm aura that Percy gave off and finally steadied herself and gently pushed arms away indicating that she no longer need his assistance.

"Don't worry about it Percy, as you can see I'm fine, no harm no foul. Seriously I'm good." Annabeth explained hoping to downplay the incident. Percy still looked concerned but nodded reluctantly. Noticing that behind Percy were the group of guys he must of came with, she saw Frank push his way through the crowd.

"Look Hazel, I finally made it." Frank called out to his girlfriend. Who smiled brightly at the sight of Frank making his way over to her to embrace her.

"I'm so glad. This isn't exactly what I had in mind but it's been pretty fun." She said. This is when Annabeth had a wicked thought.

"It's funny that I RAN into you guys." Annabeth said giving Percy a pointed look. Who had a sheepish smile on his face and had his hand move to nervously scratch the back of his neck. "Cause, I was just talking to Piper in the backyard and she was asking for ya Jason. I don't know what for though." Annabeth said nonchalantly as she could but Jason's reaction was anything but. His eyes widened then a small smile appeared on his face.

"Really!" He asked excitedly, perhaps over playing his hand. "I mean alright well ahh I better go see what she wants ya know." He said trying to play down his excitement, looking around to the guys he came with. "So I'll just see you guys later. Cool?" He said moving through them, nodding to himself, slapping Percy on the back. "The backyard you said?" Looking at Annabeth, who has a barely contained smirk on her face and nods pointing behind her towards the exit. "Cool. Cool-cool-cool." Giving them one last look and seemingly reassuring nod before exiting stage right. After he was gone Annabeth and Hazel broke out into a fit of laughter with Frank and Grover joining in. Percy and Nico just shook their head disappointed in their cousin.

"Man, that was tough to watch." Nico said. "Why you gotta play the guy like that Annabeth. That was just cruel."

"No playing at all." Annabeth said in her defense "Piper was really talking about him" Getting Hazel to confirm her story. "Now did I tell Jason that without Piper knowing and did I play it up alittle for my own entertainment?" She asked cheekily shrugging. Her answer caused Nico to groan.

"Is this something I'm gonna have to deal with going forward?" He asked. Getting a resounding yes from the rest of the group. "Great." He said dejectedly.

"Don't be mad at it. The little guy is just growing up ya know, spreading his wings." Percy explained, draping his arm around Nico exaggeratedly.

"He's older than me and bigger than both of us." Nico replied not amused, brushing his cousins arm off him. "And what would you know about spreading wings. You aren't exactly a social butterfly."

"He's got a point Perce we did have to twist your arm just to come tonight." Grover chimed in, throwing his best friend under the bus.

"E Tu Grute?" Percy asked dramatically dropping to one knee and holding his hand over his heart. Getting a decent sized laugh, he wanted.

"It's 'Et Tu Brute'. Percy but that's pretty close, when did you start pulling literary references out in everyday conversation?" Annabeth asked very impressed.

"Don't be too impressed Annabeth, we read Julia Ceser in English this week and he's been quoting it all day. I'm pretty sure that's the only line he knows." Grover explained, happy to bust his friend's balls. Annabeth held back a laugh at her friend's expense but the rest of the group did not share her decision.

Percy looked shocked at his friend's actions "You know what, there is really only one way to express my feelings toward this betrayal Grover." Much of the group saw this coming and couldn't help but laugh. "Say it with me E Tu Grute" Percy announced waving his hands with his head held high. Nico, Grover and Frank couldn't help but admire Percy's commitment to a fairly mediocre joke and began to applaud. Annabeth and Hazel shook their heads. "Alright I'm done. Im gonna grab a drink, you guys coming?" Grover and Nico nodded and followed him to the kitchen. "I guess I'll see you all later right" he asked talking to the rest of the group but looking right at Annabeth and wearing hopeful smile. Hazel and Frank both politely nodded, not thinking anything of it. Annabeth unsure of the hidden meaning, hid a small smile.

"Sure Percy." She agreed, with a small blush dusting her cheeks, unable to be seen in the poorly lit hallway. 'Jeez Percy what hell was that look.' The trio of boys left to go into the kitchen while Hazel, Frank and Annabeth waited around. "you guys just wanna go back outside, check in on Piper and Jason?" She asked smirking.

"Sure. Ahh Frank could you grab me another water?" Hazel Asked as they made their way outside. Frank being the gentlemen he is of course obliged leaving the two girls alone. "Hey what was that look from Percy about?" She asked genuinely curious. Annabeth was taken aback by the question. 'good question, I wish I knew.' She anguished in her head, also unsure on the nature of Percy's actions.

"Oh that, it was nothing trust me." Annabeth said playing cool hoping it would blow over. Hazel didn't seem completely convinced but decided to let it slide. 'Well I'm definitely not gonna be thinking about that the rest of the night.'

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 **A/N So here is another Chapter. part 1 of the Party, hopefully lived up toy your expectations. I feel pretty good about it, I'm sure a lot of the characters are a little OOC but hopefully not too much. Thanks for reading and review if you have any comments are concerns. Ill try to get the next chapter out soon. That's all.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Here is the highly anticipated (by someone I'm sure) Chapter 7 to the number one story on all of Fanfiction . net (Don't fact check me) ... Anyway you know the deal, I don't own any of these characters nor do I make any money off of this story. Enjoy! (or do whatever you want I don't care.)**

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"So, what do you guys think," Percy asked, gesturing to the party. "Not bad right."

"Totally." Grover said excited.

"Eh it's alright." Was Nico's less enthusiastic response.

"Whatever, anyway you guys wanna get a drink or something." Percy asked cautiously. He wasn't a big drinker but as a high school student he was curious about alcohol. He has had a few beers before but never felt the need to overdo it. And at the party it seemed like an appropriate thing to do. The plan was never to come to the party and get drunk but maybe if he nursed a couple cups over the course of the night it would help him not feel so out of place and get more comfortable. He could deal with the terrible taste for now. Nico and Grover each looked at each other, a little surprised Percy suggested it.

"Ah sure, how much were you planning on drinking?" Nico asked, not that he was worried but more curious.

"Honestly just a drink or two, figured I'd have to get used to drinking it eventually." Was Percy's leveled response. As the two went over to grab some cups.

"Grover, you want some?" Percy asked.

"Ehh no thanks." He politely declined. The trio remained in the kitchen as they took in the party going on around them.

"So, Grover how is your 'recycle club' going?" Percy asked remembering his best friends love of the earth and plants.

"Its the 'Environmental club'" Grover scoffed but still glad his friend remembered it. "And its going really well. We got 5 new students to join this year. We hold elections next week, but I am running unopposed for the 3rd straight semester," He bragged. His friends were mildly impressed. Although they were too impressed because Grover did start the club and there were only around 15-20 members but still Percy was happy for him. "Right now, our goal is to get the school to let us take a bus to the local parks and do clean up days on the weekend."

"Nice, seems like you got a good thing going." Percy offered. Proud of his friend but secretly hoping he wasn't going to be dragged on those buses.

"Yeah, there is also this really cute girl who just joined and had a bunch of good ideas." Grover excitedly half said, and half mumbled, crumbling a used paper towel in his hands.

"Woah, that's awesome dude, you talk to her at all?" Percy asked.

"Just a little during the meetings, never one on one, I don't know it's just a silly crush."

"Still though, you should at least talk to her to see." Percy encouraged. Grover nodded, appreciative for Percy's words.

"So, what about you Nico, you have eyes on any girls in school?" Grover asked, teasingly, bumping the younger teen with his arm.

Nico's response was cold and defensive as he immediately tensed up. With a blank unamused stare, he uttered a simple "No" but his tone was final.

"Jeez sorry I asked." Grover said, genuinely sorry he made Nico feel uncomfortable and egger to move on, he turned to Percy. "What about you Percy?" He tried again, hoping to regain the light tone of the conversation. Percy was prepared for the question, so he didn't give anything away, but he couldn't help his from drifting to a certain curly haired blonde with excellent court vison and a knack for catching him in embarrassing moments.

"Ahhh you guys know I don't care about that stuff. Plus, with the season starting, I don't have any time to worry about girls." He coolly replied.

"Aw your no fun." Grover complained. As he said that though, Selina and Beckendorf made their way into the kitchen seeing the trio at the party for the first time.

"Ohh Percy! So glad you guys made it." Selina exclaims, excited by their attendance. As the guys great them, "Nico, love the look, black is definitely your color. Grover, great to see you. Percy, always a pleasure," Looking each of them in the eye with a warm smile. "wish I could stay and chat but somebody got a hold of the aux cord and has been playing 'Panda' on repeat for half an hour." She explained with a roll of her eyes in a 'I don't have time to deal with this shit' way. "So, enjoy the party, holler if you need anything." She called back as she made her way to the living room. The guys were a bit taken aback by the whirlwind that just came through, but they knew that was just Selina's nature.

"Anyway, whats up with you guys?" Beckendorf asked, very used to the feeling the guys were experiencing right now.

"Oh you know, just chilling." Was Percy's generic response. To which Beck nodded.

"Where is Jason, I haven't seen him yet, don't tell me he skipped out after he pushed this on you guys." Beck laughed out.

"Nah hes here, he's out back macking on Piper Mclean like a love-sick puppy." Nico explained taking another sip of his drink followed but the inevitable grimace. Beck's face lit up at that.

"OHH for real? That's hilarious, after all the shit he gave me when I first started dated Selina, ohhh this is gonna be good." Beck announced taking the form of a cartoon villain for a second. "Sorry guys this is too good to pass up, you trying to catch this show?" He asked them. To which the three guys all shrugged. "Sounds like a yes to me. You said he was outside?"

"Yeah at least that's where he was heading last time we saw em." Percy said in between sips.

"Alright let's go check this out." Beck declared eagerly rubbing his hands together. The rest just reluctantly followed their massive friend outside. They walked outside and saw their friends in a large group hanging around the patio furniture. Among them were the object of their search Jason Grace looking pretty snug on the couch cuddled up to one Piper Mclean. Also, out there were the usual suspects like Leo, and the Stoll brothers. He saw Frank and his girlfriend Hazel (he confirmed the two were dating from Jason) standing off to the side, only half paying attention to the going-on's of the rest of the group. And of course, sitting next to Piper was Annabeth mindlessly playing with her hair, clearly bored with her friend who is currently absorbed with her crush. She noticed the attention and looked up to lock eyes with Percy. She smiled and nodded to the budding couple next to them and rolled her eyes jokingly. Beckendorf took the opportunity to walk through the group, right up to Jason and lean on the armrest next to him. "Sup buddy!" He asked exaggeratedly, draping his arm over Jason's shoulder. Jason unsure of how to respond just smiled nervously.

"Hey Beck, ahh whats up man." He said as nonchalantly as he could, Piper was also unsure how to proceed given the relationship limbo they were now in.

"Oh man I'm doing great man" He said with a smirk plastered on his face. Beck, exaggeratingly leaning, peers over Jason and spots Piper. "OH, Hey Piper, I didn't see ya there. How are you? I hope this guy isn't bothering you or anything." He asked, gesturing to Jason, slapping him on the shoulder alittle harder than necessary.

"Hi Charles, you don't worry about him, Jason has been a perfect gentleman." Piper boasted, coming to the defense of her crush. Something that Jason clearly appreciated.

"Thanks Pipes." Jason said with a soft smile and looking

"Well isn't that great, just warms your heart, don't it?" Beck asked the rest of the group, laughing but genuinely impressed by the two. Leo happy for his two best friends, jokingly got everyone's attention.

"Here, Here!" He said raising his red plastic cup. Getting a big laugh as everyone sarcastically raised their respected drink into the air. Even Jason and Piper, faces bright red from the unwanted attention, clinked their cups together before taking a sip. After the hoopla everyone seemed to settle down. Leo moved over to where Percy, Grover and Nico were standing. "What's up guys. I'm not used to seeing you guys at these kinda things. How ya liking it." He asked casually.

"Eh it's not bad. Not really my thing but I like it enough." Percy responded to which Nico nodded.

"Yeah I like it. Im having a good time." Grover decided.

"Cool. Yeah its nice to see ya guys here. I usually hang out with those two most of the time so it's nice to get a break before they REALLY get into each other." Leo explained.

"Lemme ask you this. I mean you three go way back is it weird that they are seemingly gonna be a couple, do you feel left out?" Grover thoughtfully asked.

"I mean yeah they are definitely my day-ones so there is gonna be an adjustment period for sure but I kinda saw this coming for a while, so I've made my peace with it. And ya know if it makes them happy who am I to get in the way of that." Leo said after considering it for a moment.

"Wow Leo, that's really mature of you." Grover said impressed to which Percy and Nico agreed.

"Haha yeah I guess so." He laughed off finishing the contents of his cup. "Hey! I'm getting another drink anyone want a refill?" He announced to the group. Most declined but Piper did request a refill.

"Damn I didn't expect that from Leo." Percy said shaking head.

"Yeah same. Hard to believe that's the same kid who got suspended for putting a fake rat in Julie Thompsons lunch box in 6th grade." Percy offered. Vaguely remembering that it was Julie and a couple of her friends that mercilessly teased Piper throughout grade school for her Cherokee heritage and tom boyish attitude.

"Or when he nearly burnt down the school when accidentally sent his sleeve on fire in chemistry last year." Grover added humorously.

"I guess this just means that he's growing up. We may have seen the last of the happy go lucky, accendent prone, pranking, goofy Leo." Percy said gravely.

"I mean maybe. We all have to grow up eventually right." Nico said somberly. It was then when the group was in the mist of self-reflection when Leo returned with two drinks, one for himself and one for Piper.

"Yo guys" Leo asked chipperly, "What's with the long faces? You guys get too deep into self-reflection and now existential nihilism has you feeling the dread?" He asked pointedly. He received only blank surprised faces in return. "Yeah that happens to me all the time but watch this." He commended switching back to usual upbeat mood. He moved to hand Piper her drink back which she was grateful for and simply returned with no such fanfare. He came back to the group grinning like a tomcat.

"Uhhh Leo, what are we supposed to be watching?" Percy finally asked.

"Just wait for it." Leo said mysteriously.

"But wait for what?" Nico demanded. Then they were caught off guard by an ear piercing high pitched scream.

"For that." Leo said with a satisfied smirk not phased at all. They had identified the source of the scream as one Piper Mclean. Jason had jumped into action, ready to face any danger but was disappointed when Piper simply pulled a plastic fake bug out of her drink. Leo who had done a valent job in keeping it together until know finally broke out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. "Ohhh you should've seen your faces." He belted out before succumbing to his laughter once more. The entire backyard was frozen with anticipation.

Piper, having spilled the contents of her drink on herself was now quietly fuming. "Leo…" He grinded out, crushing the now empty cup in her hand. Leo was still unaware of his impending danger.

"Uhh Dude," Jason called out getting Leo's attention, unsuccessfully trying to calm Piper down. "Run!" With that Leo noticed the mad look in Piper's eye and bolted for the exit.

"Please don't kill me" He called back. As Piper eluded Jason and began her chase for revenge.

After a moment to digest what had just happened. The entire group seemingly at the same time burst into laughter.

"Well I guess some things never change." Percy cheerfully told his friends, draping an arm around Grover. Enjoying the moment. As Jason came over and talked with Nico and Grover. Percy noticed that Annabeth was left alone mindlessly scrolling through her phone. Bumping Jason with him hand, "Im gonna grab a seat for a bit. Let me know when you guys are gonna head out." Percy informed his, noticing it was getting a little late and didn't know how long the others wanted to stay.

Jason, noticing who was seating, smirked "Yeah man sure, have fun" he assured.

On his way over Percy was suddenly very aware of how sweaty his palms had become, after wiping them on the back of his pants he realized his heart was pounding. And to top it off he had lost any understanding on what to do with his hands. Every position felt foreign and awkward whether it be rigid by his side or stuffed into his pockets. He began to crack his knuckles instinctively and hopes that would help calm his nerves as it was a nervous habit he had picked up. Despite all of this, Percy followed through and after an eternity of torture (Or a few seconds walk depending on who you ask) he finally made it and flopped down on the couch in the seat closest to the chair Annabeth was sitting in. "Hey." Having gotten there and realizing he had no idea what to say Percy opted to play it safe.

Annabeth smiled when she looked up as locked eyes with Percy. "Hey Percy. What's up." She asked with a bright smile.

"Oh, you know, just hanging out. Parting it up" Percy said exaggeratedly, waving his hands in a satirical matter, and got a laugh from Annabeth. Which Percy considered mission accomplished.

"Haha, I'm actually surprised, I didn't expect you to be a big drinker." She confessed pointing at his cup of beer.

"Yeah about that, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret." He said using his hand to cover a side of his face and leaning in closer Annabeth. "See I've actually been drinking this same cup all night." He faux whispered, tilting the cup so Annabeth could see that there was a third of the cup still filled. "The stuff tastes pretty terrible, I don't know how these guys do it." He confessed.

"Hmm So if you don't like it and you obviously not going to get drunk from that small amount why drink it at all?" She asked honestly curious.

Percy just shrugged. "Eh I don't know, I say it's just to get a taste of it, but it doesn't hurt that having this cup in my hand all night elevates some unwanted attention which is always nice."

"Ahh I hear ya. It certainly fits the profile, 'star basketball player, most popular student, drinks at parties." Annabeth laid out. "Not that you necessary have to fit that" She added quickly, "but it's just what they expect." She said gesturing to the rest of the students at the party.

"Yeah, exactly. Sometimes it's just easier to play the part ya know." Percy expressed. Having long forgot any uneasiness he was feeling before and now just immersed in the conversation.

"Definitely, the question then becomes at what point do you stop 'playing the part' and it just becomes who you are." Annabeth challenged. At this point it wasn't explicit that they were talking about Percy specifically, but the question was a fair one to ask.

"Hmm yeah that's a good question," He admitted pondering for a second. "I guess you just gotta pick your battles. And hope your friends can help keep the line from burling." He eventually worded out, satisfied with his answer. "How was that?" he goaded while flashing a signature grin.

"Hm not bad." Annabeth said with a coy look.

"Oh, come on, cut me some slack, that was pretty good for putting me on the spot." Percy complained.

"Oh, I'm never going to cut you any slack." Annabeth playfully admitted with a challenging smirk. And Percy was definitely up for the challenge.

"Well then I guess I'm just gonna have to try that much harder with you right." Percy conceded.

"Yeah you're gonna have to." Annabeth goaded right back. Each wearing a cheeky smirk.

"Hey Annabeth, there you are." The two were interrupted when they turned to see Piper standing a few yards away with Hazel and a damp Leo in tow. "You ready to leave soon?" She asked. Annabeth had lost track of time and it was getting a little late but was a little disappointed. She had honestly had a lot of fun at the party and while she still felt a little out of place she couldn't deny it had been a good time.

"Yeah sure. How are we getting back?" she asked.

"The uber will be here in 5 minutes." Piper explained. Overhearing the conversation Jason jumped in.

"You guys leaving?" He asked mainly Piper.

"Yeah unfortunately it's getting pretty late. Great party tho." Leo added. "With the exception of me now going to smell like beer the rest of the night." He conceded.

"well that last part could have easily been avoiding if you would just grow up." Piper stated impying it was her fault Leo was now sticky and damp.

Leo shot back a sharp grin. "totally worth it." He admitted. Getting a laugh from most of the group but a groan from Piper.

"Anyway, this was fun, I'll see you guys on Monday." Piper said waving to Percy, Frank, Nico and Grover, who had joined after Jason had. She then approached Jason and went in for a hug, after the embrace she quietly asked. "Call me tomorrow?"

Jason a bit caught off guard nodded dumbly before adding. "Yes, yes I will. Definitely." Causing her to light up. The rest of the group face palmed at Jason's behavior but didn't have the heart to disrupt the admittedly nice moment. Hazel had already said goodbye to Frank with a chaste kiss and bubbly waved to the rest of the boys. Annabeth still standing next to Percy decided to play it safe and bumped Percy "See ya around Percy." Before walking over to Piper and Leo.

"I'll see you Monday morning?" Percy asked.

"Bright and early." She responded with a big smile, before waving to the rest as they walked to the house to thank Selina before catching their ride.

Jason walked over to Percy, "so good party huh?" he asked cheekily.

"Shut up." Percy said not even looking at him, still watching the door as Annabeth finally left his range of vision. 'Not a bad night at all.'

* * *

 **A/N There you have it. Part 2 of the Party is complete, hoped you liked it. I actually didn't hate this nearly at all so there's that. Also I realize I'm doing this 80% just for me at this point but if yall like this, it'd be dope if you could leave a review letting me know. They really do keep me motivated and push me to get the chapters out quickly(ish) so yeah do that. I like how the story is progressing but I just wanna let you guys know its gonna be more of a slow burn so those of you hoping to see full blown Percabeth in the next chapter or even were hoping to see it in this one I'm sorry that's not my style sorry. hope you stick around till we do see it tho and that the combined efforts of Jasper, Frazel and Selina/Beck (do they have a nickname?) can hold you over. If I had to break up my story into arcs I would say that this chapter finished the first arc so I have a few twist and turns planed for the next one. That** **'s all for now, see you in a couple weeks (Prolly) hope to hear from ya in a review. Also if you guys really want me to respond to a question or something just Review and let me know and I totally will. Alright Peace.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Chapter 8** **to the number one story on all of Fanfiction . net (Don't fact check me) ... Anyway you know the deal, I don't own any of these characters nor do I make any money off of this story. Enjoy! Word of warning this chapter is pretty dense but don't give up on it just try and get through it and the reward will be there in later chapters.**

* * *

"Alright guys bring it in." coach Brown said after blowing his whistle to end practice. It was Wednesday after school the day before the first game of the year. "Good practice boys, we're looking good. At this rate we should be ready for tomorrow. But  
don't get complacent, Williamson Prep is a good team that pushed us both games last year and have brought back most of their starters." He added for emphasis. Staring at his team he saw determined looks. "Ok hit the showers. Jackson, Grace and Beckendorf  
a word." He asked as the rest of the players filed into the locker room.

"How are they looking boys?" Coach asked his three best players in reference to the rest of the team.

"We're ready coach. No doubt about it, we can handle anything thrown at us." Beckendorf affirmed. Percy and Jason both agreed.

"Good you know I'm counting on you three to carry us the first couple games until the underclassmen get their feet under 'em." He added, receiving confident nods in return. "What about Di Angelo, you guys think he's ready? He looks a little disinterested  
out there. We got a couple of older guys that we can start until learns the ropes." He explained. "Don't get me wrong the kid's got all the talent in the world but I wonder if he is fully committed." He proposed, genuinely looking for some insight  
from his players.

"Coach it's totally your call if you wanna start Leeif you think Nico isn't ready and Nico will understand, but if you're asking me. I'll take Nico ten times outta ten. Trust me he ready. He's all in just like the rest of us. I know he looks lackadaisical  
but trust me he's just not a fiery guy, if you put him in on Friday he's gonna give it 100% every second." Percy said coming to his cousin's defense. But he meant every word of it and his coach could tell. Jason nodded emphatically

"Beckendorf?" Coach Brown asked, turning to his captain to see make sure the other two weren't just sticking up for their cousin. After a moment of reflection.

"Start the kid coach. He can get the job done. You have our word." Beckendorf affirmed.

"Okay. I trust you guys. Now get outta here you all stink." The coach said. Receiving smiles from the players. As the three entered the locker room the two cousins searched our the third, seeing Nico finish up changing the walked over to the lockers next  
to his.

"Yo, what did coach say to you guys." Nico asked lacing up his snickers.

"Actually.!" Jason started before Percy cut him off with a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"He just gave us the generic leadership speech ya know. Set a good example and all that crap." Percy finished shooting Jason a 'drop it' look.

"Haha nice, hey Percy are you gonna get in early to hit the gym again tomorrow?" He asked.

"You know it." Percy said.

"Alright, cool if I join ya? Figure I'd be good to get up a couple more shots before tomorrow night" Nico asked. "Not that I'm nervous or anything."

"Of course, man." Percy agreed with a big smile.

"Word. Alright I'm gonna get outta here, see you guys tomorrow." Nico said as he was getting up Beck came over and extending his fist for a bump.

"State." He asked. Nico smirked at the gesture, and touched fists.

"State." Nico affirmed. Beck nodded with a grin before repeating the gesture with the rest of the team. Travis Stoll was the one who started the inevitable chant.

"STATE! STATE! STATE!" The whole team shouted joining in the center of the room with their fists raised, Beckendorf in the center.

"PATH TO STATE STARTS TOMORROW. LET'S GET AFTER IT!" Their captain yelled, the team responded with a load cheer. There we're no doubt in that locker room. A state championship was the goal, and anything short was a disappointment.

* * *

"So, what I'm getting from this is that you still haven't told her?" Annabeth asked interrupting her friend's ramblings as the two were walking to back to their rooms after practice. But Piper stuck to her principals.

"You know how it is, we've just both been super busy. I just haven't had the time. It's a delicate process." She insisted. Which Annabeth clearly didn't buy. "Fine I'm scared." She sighed.

"Ughhhh. You realize she'll only be mad if you wait too long and she hears it from you. Honestly, she should hear it from both of you, but Jason is out of my jurisdiction." Annabeth explained for what she felt like the hundredth time since last Friday.  
"That's it as team captain and your best friend I am ordering you to tell her before tomorrow's game. This has go on too long." Annabeth laid out. "In fact, I'm going to do you a favor and get your boyfriend to be there with you."

"I mean technically we haven't put labels on it or anything" Piper pointed out before Annabeth shot her down with a death stare. "Fine." Piper forced out, "before school tomorrow, I promise I'll talk to Thalia." She said finally giving in. "Happy?" She  
asked her friend.

"Very much so, yes." Annabeth said with a satisfied smirk. "Can we just get this out of the way, so we can focus on the season." She pleaded worried that her teammates were totally focused on their upcoming game.

"Girl you need to relax, it's just the first game of the year and we beat this team twice last year. Jeez." Piper said frankly as she made their way to her dorm. "I promise as soon as the whistle blows my mind will be totally focused on basketball and  
that goes for the rest of the team too. Ok."

"Fine but you're still not off the hook for this Thalia thing." Annabeth said as Piper entered the building and she went to walk to her dorm.

'I hope you're right Piper, I hope you're right.' She mused blowing a stray hair out of her face.

* * *

*RINNNGGGGG* *RINNGGGGG* "HELLO PERCY CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Percy's screen lit up with the bottom half of his mother's face as she spoke (yelled) into the camera.

"Yes, mom I can hear you, stop talking into the camera, just hold it in front of your face" Percy humorously explained.

"Oh good." She said adjusting her volume and her screen, so it just showed her warm smiling face. "How are you sweetie?" She asked.

"I'm good Mom, really. Classes are tough, but I can get through them, tomorrow is our first game of the year. I can't wait, we're really going to be good. Nico is gonna start for us. It's gonna be a lot of fun, just like the driveway when we were kids,  
Me, Nico and Jason." Percy excitedly explained.

"Oh, that is just great Percy. I'm sooo happy for you boys. I'm sorry I can't make your game tomorrow, but I have to pick up these extra shifts whenever I can. I'll be there in spirt and I'll try extra hard to get to more games this year." Mrs. Jackson  
responded.

"It's ok mom really. I know it's really a pain to get up here from Manhattan, and that you would be here if you could. And later in the year we should have a few games closer to home, so they will be easier for you to get there." He said trying to ease  
his mother's concerns. "Anyway, how are things with you? How are your classes going?" He asked.

"Oh, Percy I really like them, I'm learning so much and get this my professor wants me to send one of my short stories in for a contest. It's going so well." She gushed before turning to more serious topics. "but it does gets a little lonely here without  
you Percy. But you have to know that I am so proud of you. You had to grow up faster than I ever wanted you to, but you handle everything so well and soon you'll be heading off to college, I just wonder whether you need me at all anymore." She admitted,  
tearing up.

"Hey mom don't say that. I'll always need you." Percy adamantly interrupted. "And college is still a long way off. Let me just try to finish out junior year first alright?" He asked causing his mother to cheer up a bit. "You're the best mom I could ask  
for. Everything in my life I owe to you mom." He heartfeltly explained. "Seriously mom, and I'll be home before you know it I promise. Okay?"

"Yes, Percy thank you. I'm ok I swear I just miss you is all." She said.

"I miss you too mom."

"And you're doing alright? You're eating enough, getting enough sleep, socializing?" She prodded.

"Yes Mom." Percy said exaggeratedly.

"Ok just checking." She laughed off. "Ok Percy I'm sure you are very busy, so I'll let you go. Let me know how you do tomorrow when you can."

"Sure Mom, I'll call you this weekend and Ill text you after the game tomorrow."

"Ok good luck tomorrow sweetie. I love you." She declared.

"Thanks Mom. I love you too, I'll talk to you soon." He said before she hung up. He then released a large sigh, talking to his mom was always an emotionally draining experience and that hasn't really changed despite being away from her for so long.

size="1" noshade=""

"So, do you normally get here this early or is it just cause I'm here." Nico asked through a yawn. It was about 6:40 the morning of their first game and the pair of Nico and Percy were walking to the gym to warm up before school.

"Actually, I usually get up a little earlier. I figured I'd wait for you to get up." Percy admitted.

"You're kidding?" Nico asked with disbelief. Which just made Percy chuckle as they walked through the entirely too heavy doors. They were greeted to the sight of Annabeth taking free throws by herself, she stopped when she saw the two and paused her  
music. She stood there with a cocky grin as she pinned the ball against her hip. With a pair of baggy shorts and her hair tied in a messy bun, Percy was in awe of how perfect she looked.

"When I didn't see you here I was wondering whether to send out the search party for you. And I see you brought some company." She joked, having beaten him to the gym for the first time since she started coming. The joke knocked Percy out of his daze.

"Yeah, yeah joke it up, the only reason you beat me here was cause I had to wait till this guy dragged himself outta bed." He said scapegoating Nico. Getting a laugh from Annabeth.

"Whatever, you guys are the weird ones for getting up this early every day." Nico said defending himself as. "Let's get going." he said as he moved to the bleachers to get ready waving his cousin to join him.

"Alright I'll talk to ya later." Percy said still laughing at his cousin, as he moved to where Nico was sitting. Annabeth waved and returned to her workout.

"So, what do you wanna start with?" Percy asked as he and Nico took the court, each carrying a basketball.

...

After an hour of running drills Nico and Percy decided to call it a day. "Hey Annabeth! we're leaving, if I don't see ya good luck with your game today." Percy called out as they walked to the locker room.

"Thanks, you too." She said back immediately, turning back to her basket after she felt her face warming up. When they made it to the locker room and out of earshot from Annabeth.

"The girls play today too?" Nico asked curious.

"Yeah, they play after school tho, Jason told me, since he's going to the game to support Piper." Percy laid out. To which Nico nodded in understanding. As soon as he was done Percy stood up to leave.

"Alright I gotta study for this stupid English test fortunately it's the last period so I still have time, I'll see you at lunch." he complained.

"Good luck with that man." Nico laughed at his hopeless cousin.

* * *

"So how do you think you did?" Grover asked his best friend on their way out of the classroom after just finishing their test.

"Eh I don't know, I'm sure I did alright, I definitely got most of the multiple-choice part. So hopefully that outweighs the essays." Percy expressed with a deep sigh, thankful that the test is over, and he can just focus on the game tonight but secretly  
more worried about the test than he let on, it was true he did pretty well on the multiple-choice section, but he bombed the short answers and ran out of the time writing his essay. He pushed his worries to the back of his mind though, figuring  
he can make up the grade at the end of the semester like he always did. "What about you." Percy lazily asked.

"Oh, I did pretty good, you know you're always welcome to study with me." Grover offered again, hoping his friend would take his studies a little more seriously.

"Yeah, I know, thanks G-man, I'll keep that in mind for next time." He said through a yawn. "Are you heading back to the dorm?" Percy asked.

"No my club is meeting in half an hour I gotta go set up." Grover explained. "I'm still down to get dinner, what time does your game start."

"It doesn't start till 8 but I wanna eat around 5:30 if that works."

"Yeah I'll be done at 5 so I'll be back by then. What are you gonna do till then?" Grover asked. Percy pulled out his phone as saw it was 2:30.

"Ohh I'm definitely gonna go back and take a nap. Have fun saving the environment." Percy said as the two went their sperate ways. His last statement being sort of an inside joke between the two. 'finally!' Percy exclaimed as he fell face first into  
his bed. Removing his unnecessary layers, he set an alarm for 5 o'clock. He exhaled one last time before succumbed to his exhaustion. As he drifted to sleep, thankful for the valuable rest, it seemed the fates were not on his side.

*RINNNGGGGG* *RINNGGGGG* Percy slowly stirred from his slumber, thinking it was his alarm going off, he felt more tired than he expected but he figured that was temporary. Only when he turned to find his phone that he realized that it wasn't his alarm  
ringing but it as Jason FaceTime-ing him. He opened his phone and groaned with his face in his pillow. "What."

"Percy, you there man, why is it so dark, why does it sound like you're underground?" Jason inquired.

Releasing a frustrated sigh as he looked at the time as it was only 3:20, Percy accepted his fate and sat up and turned his lamp on before answering. "If you must know, I was sleeping, now what can I do for you Jason." He asked rubbing the sleep out  
of his eyes. Jason looked a little sheepish for having woken up his friend especially if it meant Percy would be tired for the game tonight. But he quickly got over it.

"Well since you're up now. I was wondering if you wanted to go to the girl's game? It starts in a bit." He asked.

"Hmm." Percy considered. "I assume you're just going because Piper is playing." He asked with a skeptical eye.

"What nooooo, I just wanna support the team and show some school spirt, you know they are going to be really good this year. Anddddd Piper was really excited when I told her I was coming." Jason admitted with an unashamed grin. "Come on, you're not  
doing anything. Come keep me company, I don't wanna be sitting here by myself watching the game. I'll look super creepy." Jason argued.

"Ughh fine, it's not like I gonna be able to back to sleep anyway." Percy decided, getting up and starting to get ready. "I'll meet you down there. Imma see if Nico wants to come."

"Ok man I'll see ya. Thanks man." Jason said gratefully.

"Yeah, yeah whatever man don't mention it." Percy said downplaying it before hanging up. In reality Percy didn't mind going to the game at all. He was quite ashamed by the small number of games he had seen the Women's team play and if he was gonna  
be friendly with a number of them (by association at least) he should at least make an effort to see them play. Plus, he wanted to see Annabeth play, it'd be if they could offer constructive criticism to each other since they work out together  
every day.

So, after rounding up Nico they made their way into the gym for the second time that day. Fortunately, it appears they made it in time as the two teams just broke their huddles and moved to center court for the tip off. Nico noticed Jason sitting  
in the home stands by himself, isolated near the top.

"Yo." Jason said offering his hand in greeting.

"So Piper isn't starting. She's not hurt, or anything is she?" Nico asked not in jest but just curious.

"Nah she's good, she starts on the bench, she's their Manu." Jason joked (For those who don't know Manu Ginolbi is a very good basketball player who started games on the bench despite being one of the better players on the team for tactical purposes.)  
"But apparently their team is crazy deep. I mean they returned 4 starters, they got 3 seniors in the starting lineup plus Annabeth. They probably have just as good of a chance to win state as we do." Jason explained to the two who were very impressed.  
Percy knew they were good, but they had no idea the actual scoop. As they watched the game, Goode immediately made a statement. Scoring the game's first three baskets while completely shutting down the other team. Annabeth looked very smooth and  
in control as she orchestrated the team on offense while playing intense, smothering defense. With an early 7-point lead thanks to some great ball movement that lead to a couple easy layups and a wide open three which Thalia made.

"So, have you told Thalia that you and Piper are dating. Or are you guys still not official?" Percy asked. His female cousin wasn't exactly known for being a very understanding person.

"Yeah it was super weird. Piper made me come to tell her. She seemed to accept it well enough, but I think she just wanted the conversation to be over as fast as possible. Let me tell you, informing your sister that you're now romantically seeing  
her friend and teammate is not a conversation you want to have. Very awkward" Jason said gravely. Although Jason was completely serious the other two couldn't help cracking up at the situation.

"Ya know if you wanted to avoid that you could have just ya know, not date your sisters friend and teammate." Percy offered before succumbing to laughter again.

"Shut up." Jason offered sending the tow death glares.

"Hey there you go." Nico said slapping Jason's arm. "Piper is coming in."

Jason excitedly stood up and starting clapping, only much louder than the rest of the crown and inadvertently drew attention to himself. The entire crowd and a lot of the players turned to see who was making so much noise during a stoppage of play.  
Piper looked up just in time to see her new boyfriend realize he just made an ass of himself in public as he stopped clapping and sat down timidly with a sheepish look on his face. It only got worse for Jason as he realized that the player Piper  
was coming in to replace was Thalia. The second-hand embarrassment on her face could be seen from the top of the stand. After slapping hands with Piper (who was doing her best to focus on the game) and making her way to the bench she looked up  
and made eye contact with her brother, the message was received loud and clear. 'If you ever do something like that again I will come up there and kick your ass in front of gods, your girlfriend and everyone else.' Although most of that was probably  
paraphrased.

"Well that went as well as anyone could have expected." Nico said trying to keep a straight face while Jason's face was still red.

"Just please stop talking." Jason pleaded.

"Hey, look on the bright side. I'm sure Piper won't break up with you immediately. You probably have at least till after our game." Percy offered taking a lot of enjoyment from this.

"I hate both of you soooo much." Jason said through his hands as he hid his face.

"Oh, come on, stop, no one is looking anymore. You're missing the game." Percy explained. Pointing to the game that had resumed. It seemed his outburst had no effect on Goode's control on the game. Despite three of their starters on the bench, they  
didn't miss a beat as they continued to impose their will on the other team. Perhaps the most impressive part of the performance from Percy's perspective was that Annabeth was keeping everybody involved and contributing. By the time she came out  
in the middle of the 2nd quarter he had already amassed 5 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, and her team was up 24-12. "Damn this game isn't even close. I knew they were good but man." Percy said in disbelief

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Nico admitted he too was taken aback by the level that they were playing.

…

The rest of the game pasted with little fanfare, Goode was clearly the better team and they continued to show that throughout the rest of the game. As the clock ticked down toward 4 minutes left in the game with her team up by 15, Goode Academy's  
coach pulled her starters in favor of her younger players. Annabeth, Thalia and the rest of the starters made their way to the bench to applause from their supporters for a very respectable performance.

"Great job ladies, really good start to the year, now grab some bench and support your teammates." Coach Hammon said as her starters took their seats, happy that her team performed so well, and that she was able to let her younger player get more  
game time than usual.

"Come on girls, stay focused, show us what you can do." Annabeth yelled from the bench, challenging her teammates. One of the benefactors of the garbage time increase in game time was Hazel, who after just playing a few minutes here and there in relief  
for Annabeth throughout the game now was able to showcase her skill and hard work. She was able to run the offense for the final minutes while striking a balance between milking the clock and still maintaining the competitive attitude.

When the game ended Percy and Nico decided to wait with Jason until Piper came out. "How you guys feeling for tonight." Jason asked.

"Man, I just need it to get here already, I'm just sick of waiting" Nico said anxiously.

"I feel ya man, this day is dragging on, and we still got 3 hours." Percy admitted. It was then Piper and her teammates exited the locker room to greet the same collection of family and friends that waited for them.

"Aww Jason you didn't have wait for me. I know you have your own game to prepare for." Piper gushed as she embraced her boyfriend.

"Don't worry I have plenty of time. You played great out there." Jason complimented. "Even Percy and Nico were impressed."

"Thanks, but we were already up by the time I got in." She conceded, waving to Percy and Nico who were off to the side giving the two some privacy. Annabeth and Thalia exited next walking up to Nico and Percy.

"Nice game pinecone face." Percy offered to his cousin nonchalantly before perking up. "You too Annabeth, that was pretty impressive."

"Well thanks kelp head, good luck toping that tonight." Thalia challenged with a smirk. "What about you, death breath, you gonna get any tick tonight?" She teased her youngest cousin, poking her finger into his chest.

"Cut it out." He said knocking her hand away. "And if you must know I'm starting tonight." Nico admitted, subconsciously puffing out his chest.

"Aww look at that, the lil guy is growing up, playing with the big boys." Thalia faux gushed, pulling Nico in as she cooed.

"Alright knock it off you two, people are starting to stare." Percy policed, separating you two. Annabeth was quite content to watch the three interact, it was very fascinating to see the Thalia act this way.

"Ok I've had my fun. Time to eat. Hey lovebirds you done?" She yelled over the noise to Jason and Piper who with faces red nodded as they came over.

"Ahh good game sis." Jason nervously said. Hoping to smooth over the incident during the game. "You too Annabeth."

"Nice try you're still not off the hook for that stunt you pulled, why Piper puts up with you I'll never know, I swear of you didn't have a game tonight … ugh." Thalia grinded out, getting in her brothers face before calming herself. I'm sure from  
an outside observer it was quite amusing to see Thalia try to intimidate her brother who dwarfed her but to those who knew her know that these were not empty threats. "Anyway, I'm hungry." She was interrupted by Nico, mumbling under his breath  
'when are you not.' Which caused Jason and Percy to sputter trying to stop from cracking up. Thalia put a stop to it by sending her patented death glare. "What I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, let's get some victory food, Chick fi  
la who's in?" she asked. Piper and Annabeth both lit up in excitement while the trio of boys all faulted.

"That's cold pine cone face." Percy called out Chick fi la was the food of the gods but having it before a basketball game was not very advisable.

"What that's what you get for playing at night. Anyway I guess we'll see you boys later." Thalia called back having the last laugh. Her an Annabeth starting walking away. Annabeth at least looked a little sympathetic as she turned with a shrug and  
offered the boys good luck.

"Sorry Jason, I'll see you at the game ok sweetie?" Piper asked sweetly, charming her boyfriend so he wouldn't be mad, and of course it worked like a charm.

"It's fine, enjoy." Jason said disappointedly.

"Thanks babe. Good luck." Piper beamed, sprinting to catch up with her friends.

After a second to collect themselves from the disappointment, it was Percy who finally rallied his cousins. "Alright somebody text Grover, and lets go to the cafeteria" He said followed by a collective sigh.

* * *

 **A/N Thanks for reading, we are officially past the honeymoon phase of the story, where a lot of FanFictions either fall by the wayside or preserve. I intend to continue this story for the foreseeable future as long as there is still demand for it. I promise the story will start to pick up steam, so I just ask you give it a fair go before deciding to give up on it. As always any comments/question/concerns are welcome. Anyway Read! Review! Respect Women! Until next time, peace.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N I don't own anything.**

* * *

Percy was always amazed at the size of the crowd during Goode Academy's home games, and tonight being the season opener was no different. 10 minutes before tipoff the number of empty seats dwindled. The arena had a large student section which had already been filled with rowdy upperclassmen anxious to express their school spirt, while the rest were occupied by a collection of parents, friends, and Alumni, and of course the visitors section which was relegated to the corner. As he scanned the crowd he was disappointed when he remembered that his mother wouldn't coming, ready to turn back to the layup lines that were currently taking place, a group of girls taking their seats caught his attention. It was half of the girl's team fresh off their opening game victory and clearly feeling good about themselves, judging by their carefree expressions. Which makes sense, nothing better then getting the first win to start a season off. He must've been staring for a moment too long because when Piper looked up and noticed him she got the biggest grin and pointed him out to Annabeth and Thalia who she was sitting next to. The two had vastly different facial expressions upon looking up and locking eyes with Percy. Annabeth looked as if she had seen a ghost then after a half-hearted wave, looked away just as her face turned red. Thalia on the other hand looked as of someone spit in her food and then insulted her grandmother.

Unsure of what their reactions meant Percy decided to stop scanning the crowd and focus on the game at hand. He immediately cut through the layup line (what good is being the teams star player if you don't enjoy a few perks), received the pass then proceeded to execute a reverse layup that got the crowd to ohhh and ahhh. He definitely wasn't showing off for anyone that's for sure. Percy spent the rest of his time talking with his teammates. He thought they all looked good, other then the normal nerves, everyone felt ready. He thought about going over to Nico for a last-minute pep talk but figured giving the kid some space was the right move. Nothing he could say now was going to make a difference. Nico knew what the stakes were and he knew what he had to do in order for the team to succeed. As coach Brown called them in, he locked eyes with his younger cousin. After staring into space for a minute Nico shot him a cocky grin hoping to hide his nerves. Percy only laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. He was going to be fine.

After Coach Brown broke the huddle, the starters walked out on the court. After knocking fists with the player matched up with him. He calmed himself and tried to ignore the crowd, the stakes and all other distractions. Beckendorf having a clear size advantage won the tip back to Nico who took a deep breath and slowly dribbled up the floor. He signaled to his teammates and waited for Percy to run through a screen that got him open for a quick three, the pass was perfect and as soon as the ball left his hands, Percy turned his back as his shot fell through the net. The crowd went ballistic.

* * *

Annabeth watched on with peaked interest as Goode started hot were eager to increase their lead in the early goings. On paper Goode's team were superior side, they had a clear size advantage as well as better top end talent, with Percy and Jason being two of the best players in the state. The other team just seemed so bland in comparison, they ran a traditional offense, and none of their players seemed capable of making plays. If the game continued to go on like this Goode should cruise to an opening victory. Annabeth made sure to focus on how Nico was playing, given that he was the least experienced member and she had seen him workout that very morning. It would be a bit harsh to say Nico was playing poorly considering the score but fair to say he hadn't shown much in the opening quarter. He was passive on offense and hesitant on defense. Thanks to Percy and Jason though it didn't really matter they combined for 12 of the teams 17 points and lead 17-7 with a few minutes left in the first quarter.

Then the opposing teams coach could be seen passionately discussing something with his staff, when the finished the coach called for a player towards the end of the bench. A small player, probably a freshman, definitely a point guard tore off him warm up clothes and waited to come in. "Hm, I wonder what they're doing bringing a kid like that in?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah I know what ya mean, kid can't be taller than 5'5, and skinny too. We already have such a size advantage why make it even worse." Thalia chimed in next to her.

"Maybe they figure the games a lost cause so they wanna give their freshmen a little more playing time." Piper theorized.

"I don't know, maybe but it seems a bit early for that." Annabeth summarized, to which the others agreed.

After a stoppage in play the young man finally came in for the starting point guard, who Annabeth could tell wasn't too happy about the situation. For a player of that size to be on the team and earning minutes against one of the best teams in the state Annabeth could assume a couple things would be true, one he was a polished dribbler and two he was quick. After watching him for a couple of minutes she realized that both were not only true but understatements. This kid, who was addressed as Isaiah Wong, not only added a different look than their traditional starting point guard did he invigorated his teammates with his play. Within a couple of minutes, he almost single handedly brought his team back. He scored 6 quick points to bring the margin to 5 and even picked off one of Nico's passes. After the first quarter ended the score was 20-15 and everyone realized the game was far from over.

Coach Brown was less than pleased with how his team ended the half. "Alright guys bring it in, look we played well at times but you guys got lazy out there and it bite us in the ass. You can't assume everytime we get of to an early lead the other team in gonna roll over. DiAngelo you got to! Got to! Got to take better care of the ball. I know that kid came outta nowhere and we weren't prepared for him and that's on me, but you need to pick it up a bit. Were gonna give them a different look to start the second, Yew, Travis, Jackson, Grace and Beck. We will rotate more later in the game but for now I need you three (looking at Percy, Jason and Beck) to keep grinding. Look we are still the better team. Don't worry about Wong just keep playing the way I know you can and we'll be fine." Percy figured Nico was a bit disappointed with how the game started and being singled out by their coach but felt he would be fine, every player goes through these things. He offered a small bump with his arm and look of reassurance.

When the teams came out for the second quarter Annabeth noticed the lineup change. "Aw man they took out Nico, I hope he gets back in" Thalia voiced her thoughts.

"Yeah I hope so."

* * *

The other team brought back the same lineup they ended to first quarter with. The best thing Goode could do to stop them, since their best defenders were too big to guard Wong, was to slow the game down by getting buckets and making him walk it up the court and score on all five of them. Their plan was simple but proved effective. Percy and Jason kept scoring and their opponents just couldn't keep up. They ended the half up 37-25. Wong was held to 4 points and 5 turnovers thanks to the team effort. Nico was able to come back in halfway through the period and looked much more comfortable.

To start the third Coach Brown decided to test a couple of his younger players, the game was still in reach, but he wanted to know how much he could rely on them later in the season. He started with Nico, Dakota, both Stoll brothers, and for his first varsity action Frank Zhang. "alright look alive guys. This game is still up for grabs!" he encouraged. Percy offered a small smile to Frank who looked equal parts excited and nervous.

The inexperienced group managed to hold their own. In the first 5 minutes they only allowed 7 points, the problem being they only scored 4 themselves. But a big offensive rebound and put back from Frank for his first points and a steal followed by an assist for Nico put them back up 12. When the starters came back in they were able to kill off the quarter and finish leading 52-36. For the fourth quarter the margin never got into single digits. The game ended 62-48. Percy finished with 22 points, Jason added 16 along with 10 rebounds. Nico ended a up and down first game with 4 points 5 assists and 2 steals. Percy, Jason and Beckendorf were met with ovations as the exited the game late in the fourth. Isaiah Wong totaled 14 points and 3 assists in an impressive debut. The opening win allowed the fans to envision a perfect season just alittle longer.

"Alright you guys bring it in, first of all great game. Everyone pulled their weight tonight, you should all be proud of yourselves. That being said this was only one game, we got plenty more of these so stay focused we got two games next week so relax while you can cause we start right back at on Monday. Now hit the showers." Coach Brown offered them with a small grin.

"Really solid game you guys for real. Lets just keep it up." Beckendorf stated as team captain. "Let's give it up for Frank who made his debut and scored his first points tonight!" the guys cheered and rallied around Frank who could only laugh and accept it. "Remember Dawson park tomorrow at 11 for conditioning and scrimmaging, if you need a ride put it in the group chat. Alright you degenerates enjoy yourselves tonight but don't go too crazy" giving the Stoll brothers a pointed look. "State on three, ONE, TWO, THREE"

"STATE!"

* * *

In a similar but reverse fashion the trio of Piper, Thalia and Annabeth found themselves waiting for the boys to emerge. They were also joined by Hazel and Grover, who was sitting in the student section.

"Oh before everyone got here, I heard you won your game today congrats." Grover offered politely.

"Aw thanks Grover" Annabeth started before she was interrupted.

"Hell Yeah we crushed those wimps, they were nothing, just a warm up for things to come." Thalia brashly spoke, while catching her fist in her hand. Grover and Hazel were clearly not expecting something so dramatic.

"Jeez don't ya think that's a bit overboard." Piper said unamused by her friend's antics and not looking up from her Phone.

"Whatever girlie, gotta let them know we mean business!"

"Let who know? Grover?" Piper asked incredulously.

"Alright break it up." Annabeth resuming her role as peacekeeper finally stepped in. "Look they're right there anyway." Pointing to the trio of cousins walking out of the locker room with big smiles. Another cheer ran through what was left of the crowd upon the boy's emergence.

"Heyyy Jason over here!" Piper announced overanxiously. Causing a blush to appear on the young mans face. Annabeth and Grover shared a smile at the young couple.

"Hey Pipes thanks for waiting." Jason shyly said before offering a small hug, a bit embarrassed by the crowd.

"Great game guys, you all played great." Grover offered happy for his friends.

"Thanks G-man, one down, but plenty to go." Percy said with a satisfied grin.

"That wasn't half bad you clowns. Especially you short stuff" Thalia grabbed her youngest cousin in a headlock and was playfully nudging him. After Nico eventually got her off he halfheartedly accepted her praise.

"Yeah thanks whatever." He begrudgingly replied.

"Hey do you know if Frank is still back there." Hazel spoke up, wondering after a number of boys have emerged.

"Oh Frank yeah, Beck wanted to talk to him for a minute. Just team stuff, him being the captain and all. Lord knows he takes that shit seriously." Percy explained. Getting a laugh from his teammates. "Yeah There he is now."

"Hey guys. Thanks for waiting Hazel." Frank meekly offered.

"Well of course I waited, you played so well Frank." Hazel bubbly replied. Wrapping the big young man in a hug.

"I mean I didn't do much out there." Frank said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh. come on man it was your first game and you really held your own out there." Jason said supportively. To which everyone nodded. "I'm pretty sure I didn't even score until my third game. So, you got me beat."

"Yeah my first game was a shit show. Coach ended up taking me out after like 3 minutes," Piper explained getting a big laugh. Everyone's eyes instinctively went to Percy expecting him to tell a self-deprecating story of his first varsity game.

"Uhh I scored 15 points in 20 minutes." He mumbled, not wanting sound to braggadocios. Causing the group to burst out laughing. Because of course he did and of course he didn't want to say anything.

"Alright I think were gonna get outta here. See you guys later." Jason announces with Piper by his side, clearly looking for some privacy.

"Yeah its pretty late. And I'm beat. Ill see you tomorrow." Thalia said nudging Annabeth. Who looked unsure before waving goodbye and following her friend. She turned back and held Percy's eye for a second but before they new it the moment was lost. Percy felt strangely disappointed but couldn't place its origin. After Hazel and Frank made their exit the trio of Percy, Nico and Grover were left.

"So, Grover how was your date with that girl from you club." Percy asked cheekily as the tree made their way back.

"WHATT who said it was a date. It wasn't a date! I just walked her back to her dorm. And Her name is Juniper." Grover said all flustered.

"Oh, leave him alone Percy its too late for all that." Nico said walking ahead of the two.

"Whatever I'm just messing with ya G-Man." Percy replied. "I'm real happy for ya, I hope it works out." He said with a smile walking with his hands behind his head. They continued light conversation until Nico parted ways as Percy and Grover entered their room. Percy dumping his gym bag in his closet and falling face first on his bed in exhaustion. Grover laughed at his friend before he perked up.

* * *

"Hey can I ask you something" Percy asked his friend while he was getting his laptop.

"Sure whats up?"

"So, what do you think of Annabeth?" Percy asked his best friend. As far as Grover could remember this may have been the first time Percy had ever asked him about a girl.

Grover a bit caught off guard by the question, took a second to answer. "I don't know, I mean she's super smart, you guys obviously have a lot in common and she seems pretty down to earth not to mention super pretty. Why you actually like her or something." He questioned, not used to Percy bringing up something like this.

"I mean when you put it like that it seems stupid not to. Uhh but probably not. I don't know maybe. I don't have any experience with this stuff. I don't know how this is supposed to feel. I just like her, ya know I think she's cool." He said exasperated. Unused to these feelings.

"Ya know you could just talk to her." Grover offered. Receiving an unamused look from Percy. "Fine don't talk to her, just hide your feelings forever and never feel anything again." Grover exclaimed dramatically.

"Not helping dude." Percy said frustrated.

"Well I don't know what to tell you, I can't decide if you like her or not. You gotta figure that one out on your own." Grover wisely put. Percy nodded but remained unsatisfied.

* * *

"Give it a rest Piper." Jason sighed. "Its not gonna happen."

"What are you talking about, of course its gonna happen, even if I have to make it happen myself." Piper said unrelenting, saving the last part for under her breath. "They obviously like each other. Even you've seen it!" She appealed.

"Sure I think hit it off but this is Percy and Annabeth were talking about, not exactly to most romantically inclined people I know." Jason argued. "Maybe I could see something happening after the season but you know how those two are. I can barely get Percy to stop thinking about basketball in June let along in the middle of the season,"

"But that's why they just need a little push." Piper exclaimed before Jason gave her a stern look

"I hope your not thinking what I think your thinking"

"Who me?" She askes all innocent like. "I'm not talking about anything drastic, just a little nudge in the right direction. They'll be thanking us for it trust me." Piper said causing Jason to sigh, 'this is gonna be a whole thing isn't it' he thought dejectedly, as his crush/girlfriend fantasized about playing match maker and double dates.

* * *

 **A/N Oh you have no idea Jason, such a whole thing that someone is gonna write a whole fanfic about it.**

 **Anyway I'm back. I missed this story a lot and happy to get back to it. Hope you enjoy it. About further chapters, im not cruel enough to promise regular updates but I can say for the moment I am committed to this story. Id love to hear from you in a review seriously any comment, question or just to say hey, I love getting those. Anyway this chapter isn't my best, probably cause I wrote it over the span of 4 months, hopefully the next one will be better. till next time Peace!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N I don't own PJO or the Characters.**

* * *

Annabeth peacefully woke up Sunday morning in her room at her mom's house. While some students stay in the offered dormitories right on campus Annabeth stays with her mom during the year. A mere 20-minute drive and her mom's old Subaru allowed her to live at home. That being said it wasn't exactly a normal household. Annabeth's parents had split when she was young, leaving her with her mother for the school year. Her father had remarried and while he still made an effort it was tough to not feel left out when she stayed with him, his new wife and their two young boys. She didn't resent her parents for splitting up nor her father for remarrying, she had seen the two interact and that relationship was beyond repair. This was simply the best choice for both parties. Logically she understood that, but sometimes she can't help but wonder if they gave up too soon. So she lived in a nice two story house with her mother who worked as a architect for a large firm in the city but catered to the entire region. Causing her to frequently travel for a couple days at a time. As it happens she just returned for a trip to Philadelphia late last night.

Looking at her phone at seeing it was a little past ten Annabeth decided to roll out of bed lest she hear from her mother that she's 'sleeping all day.' She doesn't want you to get the wrong impression about her mother, sure she was pretty strict but not to an unreasonable level, and she definitely loved her, she just wanted what was best for her and had a narrow vision on how to achieve it. So when Annabeth got dressed and headed downstairs to greet her mother, she was at the kitchen counter mindlessly sipping coffee and reading her tablet. She had a natual beauty to her along with fierce, calculating grey eyes and long straight blonde hair, the same as Annabeth's. "Hi mom, how was your trip." She asks stepping into the kitchen. Her mother's eyes lifted up and slightly softened.

"Oh Annabeth good morning, it was fine but it's good to be back." She said slipping out of her chair to give Annabeth a warm but slightly awkward hug which Annabeth returned. "But anyway, how did your game on Friday go?" She asked making her way back to coffee while Annabeth raided the fridge.

"It went well. We won 55 to 40. The other team was pretty young though, we'll have to beat teams a lot tougher than them going forward. I played well I guess still things to improve of course" Annabeth explained. Her mother seemed pleased.

"Well congrats, I'm glad you're not getting ahead of yourself. Long season and all. And your friends, Thaila and um Piper, right? They played as well?" She asked, her eyes now back to her tablet.

"Yeah mom, they played well too, everybody did really. Like I said the other team wasn't especially strong." Annabeth replied, smiling at her mom's effort to connect with her by asking about her friends. Once she was down getting her juice and some breakfast Annabeth was ready to leave but her mom called out one more time.

"Oh, one more thing. I noticed on Friday as I was leaving that you had already left for school. Any reason you needed to get to school so early?" She asked mildly concerned.

"Ahh yeah so I actually got to school early to go to the gym and shoot around with the season starting and all I was feeling a little stressed, so I started doing it last week and I guess it helped." Annabeth lamely explained unsure of how to precede.

"Hmm" Her mother responded not expecting that kind of answer. "I suppose that's fine, is this something you intend to make a habit out off?" She inquired.

"Well the thing is it did really help and its one of the few times I can practice alone during the week. So yes I was going to continue." Annabeth said feeling more confident in her choice.

"Are you getting enough sleep?" She asked narrowing her eyes.

"Yes I always get at least 7 hours usually 8." Annabeth answered unflinchingly, used to her mother's inquisitions.

"And breakfast, it's the most important meal especially for student athletes, are you eating before you leave?"

"I grab a bagel or an apple before I leave, and the cafeteria has breakfast available for students before class starts."

Annabeth's mother stayed quiet for a moment, considering what she's heard. "Alright then, you are old enough to make these kinds of decisions, I trust you to not let it interfere with your schoolwork." Her mother reasoned, relenting. Annabeth nodded and before exhaling a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "I didn't even realize your school would have the gymnasium open that early." She commented off handedly. "Is there anyone else there at that hour?"

"Umm yeah so they open the gym and the recreation center for the students that live on campus early every morning and yeah there are sometimes people there. This one student on the men's basketball team is usually there, Percy Jackson." Annabeth explained in one breath, unsure why she felt the need to mention Percy.

"Ahh yes is that the boy who the interviewed in the newsletter? The big star of Goode Academy." Her mother recalled, seemingly dismissing the article and it's subject. "Just another empty-headed jock who's being praised for the wrong things." Her mother lamented. Feeling the need to defend her friend and crush Annabeth chimed in.

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh mom, I mean he's just a teenager and he's not so bad."

"I suppose. I just wish they paid more attention to what's going on in the classroom, you're just as good a player as him I'm sure and you maintain a high GPA while taking several AP courses, but just because he's a boy he receives all the attention." Her mom commented, speaking with years of experience of having to work twice as hard to get half as much. Annabeth was stunned, that was not only one of the nicest things anyone had ever said about her but her mom didn't even notice, she said it as if it was an already agreed upon fact. It was something Annabeth couldn't help but blush at.

"Thanks mom," she said leaving the room to hide her blush. Her mom barely noticed and continued to sip her coffee and read her tablet.

* * *

Sunday morning Percy woke up in a daze as the sun powered through his dorm room shades and interrupted his sleep. Probably for the best he thought as he slowly woke himself up and saw that it was a little past ten. After grooming himself, Grover walked through the door.

"Mornin' Percy." He said in his normally chipper self.

"Hey man, you eat already?" Percy said gathering his things.

"Yeah sorry, I figured you were sleeping in today."

"No worries, I'll just grab something in the city." Percy explained

"Oh, that's right you going to your moms place today."

"Yeah so you got the place to yourself for the day. Ill be back late tonight so take care." He said grabbing his backpack and heading towards the day.

"Ok see you later."

After grabbing a bite on his way-out Percy called an uber and It was one of those times he was extremely grateful for uber because it means he didn't have to take an hour-long ride on a greyhound bus, and you know how often those things breakdown. So, he headed back home towards the apartment he and his mom, Sally Jackson, had lived for nearly his entire life. For the last 5 years it's been the two of them, before that there was his mother's old boyfriend, but he doesn't like to think about that. Soon enough he reached his childhood home. Of course it was no big deal as he visits his mom every couple of weeks. Knocking on the door before using his key to let his mom know he was coming in. He opened up expecting to find his mom running to the door like she normally did when he came home after a long break but she was nowhere to be found. He looked in the kitchen and in the living room, she was nowhere to be found. Well that's probably an exaggeration he really only looked in the one room, the kitchen/living room, as it was a fairly small apartment. The next and obvious step was to yell out for her which he did.

"Hey mom I'm home!" he shouted, he heard a rustling in his mother's room, the door was close which was odd. He faintly heard his mothers voice, followed by her yelling.

"One second honey," She said from behind the closed door, he then heard she talk again presumably on the phone with someone. She came out of her room a little flustered. "Sorry Percy I didn't hear you come in. Welcome home sweetie I've missed you." She said before wrapping her son in a big warm hug.

"I missed you too mom" Percy said sharing the embrace. "Who were you talking to in there?" He casually asked. But his mom had a really strange reaction … she Blushed.

"Who that, oh it was nothing, just boring adult stuff. Nothing you need to worry about sweetie." She nervously explained before trying to change the subject.

"Wait why did you get super weird just then." Percy asked confused.

"It was nothing Percy, just someone from my writing class asking me a question. Seriously its no big deal." Sally replied, hoping to drop the subject. Which her son reluctantly accepted. The two sat down while Sally pulled out some old sugar cookies. "So, tell me everything, whats happening at school, and you friends, And of course the team." Sally happily questioned her son who was taken aback by the whirlwind of questions but shouldn't have been surprised knowing that its been about a month since he has seen her. For as long as he could remember he never kept secrets from his mom, they were in this together, so Percy had no qualms about sharing the going-ons of his life.

The two sat there, as Sally put some cookies in the oven, Percy told his mom everything that has been happening for the last couple weeks. Everything from the early excited surrounding himself and the basketball team, to his struggles in the classroom with his English and Physics courses, finally to revelation of Jason starting a relationship with Piper.

"Ohhh I'm so happy for Jason, young love is truly a wonderful thing." Sally gushed while her son was made visibly uncomfortable. "What about you honey, anybody catching your eye?" she teased. Poor Percy didn't stand a chance as his bright red blushing face gave him away. "Oh sweetie you don't have to be ashamed you can tell me" His mother swooned seeing her normally passive son like this for the first time, but after a second of thought and a the look of terror on her sons face she exercised restraint, "You don't have to tell me if you not ready, just know that your feelings are completely normal and no matter what I love and accept you." Percy thought she may have gone a bit overboard with her reassurance but appreciated it nonetheless. After weighing the pros and cons in his head he decided it wouldn't be so bad to let his mom know the subject of his feelings, especially after his conversation with Grover was less than helpful.

"So, umm the thing is, there may be someone that I could possibly see myself potentially liking but also maybe just as a friend and especially with basketball and I don't know if I even want that. Plus, that doesn't even factor in what she thinks which I have literally no clue, what if she wants something different? Like that would change everything …" Percy continued to ramble semi-coherently until his mother stopped him.

"Perseus!" Sally yelled to get her son to pay attention. Percy was so surprised to hear his mom call him by his real name that he immediately stopped his nervous babbling and looked up. "Honey, you lost me a bit but lets just take it one step at a time." To which Percy nodded with his flushed face, embarrassed by his inability to articulate his feelings. "Good. So, I heard 'she' is this girl that's got you all railed up?" She patiently asked.

"Uhh yeah." Percy nodded dumbly, when his mom waited for more details he continued. "So, her name is Annabeth, she is actually on the girls' basketball team she's real good too. Oh she's friends with Thalia, you may have meet her at Thal's party last year. Yeh high, tan with blonde hair." Percy described holding his hand to about 5'6.

"Oh oh oh, that pretty blonde girl that wore that cute orange top." Sally asked excitedly.

"What? I don't know!" her son said incredulously "ya know what not important. Probably." He decided on to which his mom nodded in agreement. "Well I have always kinda known her, I mean her and Thal have been close friends for a minute, but we've been seeing a lot of each other recently and I don't know I guess I'd say we have been getting along. Jason and Grover think I have a crush on her and maybe I do. But I don't know if I wanna date her or anything. cause that just opens up a can of worms. I just feel like being close with her is that wrong?" He asked out of breath from his monologue.

"Well of course not honey, I understand that your feelings are confusing and you're under a lot of stress, so my best advice is just to talk to her. Explore your feelings together. It doesn't have to be this all or nothing thing. If you like talking to her continue to." After a moment to collect her thoughts on the matter, Sally offered this to her son. "The point is you don't have to decide anything right now, but communication is important so if you want anything more out of the relationship than you currently have, you have to be upfront about it." Sally wisely informed.

"Uhh ok, thanks I guess." Percy responded, trying to work everything out in his head. "I guess I still need to think about it more." He jokingly commented. With the ding of the timer Sally jumped up.

"Ok now whos ready for some cookies" She said with a brilliantly warm smile. Percy, despite the confusing thoughts swirling around in his head couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks Mom."

* * *

 **A/N I'm back, im sure you've all missed me dearly, Anyway kind of a transitional chapter here as we move into the next phase of the story. So strap in, BIG things happening for the next few chapter of which I will eventually get too. leave a review if you feel like it. Peace.**


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